Assistants of the Queen
by shadowell
Summary: The queen has 5 assistants, each unique with his/her powers. But they're also pretty weird, because they're always hiding something- their lives. Note: Despite what the category says, it's not that much Rozen Maiden. I bet most of you guys won't be able to read past even the first story (this is a series of 5 stories).
1. Death Rose

**Assistants of the Queen**

Death Rose

**i**

I was born with a curse.

At first, no one found anything queer with me. I was a normal, healthy baby who likes to laugh. But then, I opened my eyes.

"The cursed child," they called me, because of my different colored eyes. I had the curse of the roses.

Marked by the guardian of roses, my eyes were one green, one red. From time to time, when I have negative emotions or is getting excited, my left eye, the red eye, would pop.

The first time it happened, my mother screamed as the blood blossomed from my eye. But the blood only swirled to become a rose growing from my eye and the other trickles of blood flowed all over the left side of my face.

Some trickles of blood went up, others to the sides and others flowed downwards but no blood reaches my chin or neck for the blood had become green and turned into rose vines.

Everything happened in about five seconds.

Even my life depends on a single rose- the black rose growing out from my chest.

If the rose was pulled out, I would die.

Because of the rose, my parents named me Bara, which means Rose. They even specially changed my surname into Kuroi, meaning Blackwell or just Black.

I was the Black Rose.

I ruined their life. They hated me, and wanted to kill me, but I was their child. They couldn't kill me.

They knew about the black rose on my chest, knew that it was the thread of my life so they tried to kill me through it. I was two.

But being cursed and my rose being the thread of my life, I knew to protect myself.

The moment mother's hand curled around the black rose, my instincts overtook me.

My left eye popped and in less than two seconds, the rose vines had spread across half of my face.

I pointed at her and a vine of roses burst out from my fingertips. It wrapped itself around her neck and strangled her.

I remember sitting up and my father shouting. I remember how mother, dead on the ground, looks like a bundle of silk in her kimono. I remember how I laughed at the terror on my father's face as I pointed at him as well and a gigantic thorn embedded itself into his chest. I remember how the blood sprayed onto my clothes and I laughed.

I walked out the house.

Hearing father's shout, a crowd of people had gathered around my little wood and straw house.

When they saw me at the doorway, their eyes widened in shock, their mouths opening in horror when they saw the blood stains on my little kimono.

People ran to get weapons but our little village in the mountains is so poor, the best most people could bring were pitchforks and shovels.

So I did the only thing I could've done at that time- I demolished the town. And I made sure, in the village, not a single soul is spared.


	2. Cities

**Death Rose**

**!**

I kept running, down the mountains, into the woods. My short legs and small feet carried me with a godly speed.

What could I have done? I was only two and I couldn't live by myself. And so I made a decision that I regretted for the rest of my life.

I went to town,

In town, everything is noisy and busy. Knowing my eyes attract attention, I kept my head lowered. But I was two. I was still too attractive, as if I was standing in the spotlight. Around me, people started pointing and whispering. At me.

I ignored them; I just kept walking in front, thinking of nothing except how cold it is.

Cold. That's an understatement. I was freezing. My feet are scraped and bleeding from running down the mountains and my family was too poor to buy shoes. I wore nothing except for a thin kimono- my pajamas, to be truthful.

A stall at the left of me caught my eye. It was selling clothes- winter clothes, which was what I needed at the moment.

I went up to the stall, and then realized I didn't have any money. So when the stall-keeper was tending to another customer, I snatched a scarf and ran.

I must have the luck of Hades because behind me, the stall-keeper shouted, "Thief!"

I kept on running but running down the mountain had already tired me greatly and soon, I could hear the _clop-clop_ of his sandals, thundering towards me.

A hand grabbed my collar and lifted me into the air. I kicked and struggled but hit nothing. He knocked on my head with a stick, stars exploding in my eyes. Then he took the scarf away and dropped me to the ground, cold and freezing with tears in my eyes.

I could hear people whispering, even laughing, the stall-keeper cursing at me. And I snapped.

My left eye popped and I stood up, my unusually long hair covering my face and spun around. I could see the stall-keeper, walking back to his stall.

When I lifted my head, people screamed, and my arm shot up, my palm facing the stall-keeper.

Rose vines erupted from my palm and wrapped itself around him, pulling him closer to me so he could see my monstrous face. He's lifted in the air and he struggled, kicked but was unable to do anything. My hand slowly clenched into a fist and he screamed. I could hear his ribs crack and arm break. I squeezed tighter and his backbone cracked.

He dropped heavily to the ground and I walked up to his crumple body. I could still smell a little bit of life in him, a small flame in the wind.

'Perhaps I'll snuff it out, end his pain,' I thought and with my mind, commanded roses to sprout from the ground, shaping and twisting together till it became a sword which I pulled from the ground and stabbed with all my strength into his chest. The stall-keeper shuddered and the last of his life slid out.

He's dead.

The rose sword disintegrated and I picked up the scarf from the ground, since he had dropped it, and wrapped it around my neck. Then I turned around and walked away.

People screamed and woman cried when I passed them. I was a monster. But I didn't care.

Summoning the rozen power within me, my body separated into rose vines that was sucked down into the ground.

I wonder… where should I go next?


	3. Emperor

**III**

"Your majesty!" a messenger hurried into the main hall and kneeled in front of the throne where the emperor sat.

"From the town nearest the southern mountains, the town governor reports that there was a young girl the age of two wandering the streets. She snatched a scarf and killed the stall keeper when struggling to keep the scarf, then disappeared! There were many witnesses and many people say that she has the curse of the roses! Her left eye is a rose and she could control the roses."

The emperor stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Curse of the roses…?"

"Yes, your majesty. People all around the country are scared that she will appear in their village next!"

Suddenly, anger seized the emperor. "HOW DARE YOU BRING SUCH WORRYING NEWS TO ME? OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" he roared.

After the messenger was carried away, spluttering, a beautiful girl around the age of 20 appeared from the shadows.

"Your majesty…?" her soft as silk voice soothing out the emperor's anger and she floated to the emperor and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Did you hear, my dear?" the emperor stroked her long silky raven black hair.

"Of course, I did. I know that before this young girl, there was another woman born with the curse of the roses."

"Isn't that a myth? The gods later granted her immortality for with her curse, she helped many people and she became a god."

"You have to hunt the girl down, your majesty," the girl said. "You have to."

Noticing the girl's distressed expression, the emperor was worried. "What is it dear?"

"I was there when the girl was born for she's from the same village as I am. I was visiting home. They named her Kuroi Bara, a black rose. The only way to kill her is by pulling out the rose embedded on her chest. When she was two, she demolished the village, I being the only one who escaped. She killed my parents, your majesty, so please help me revenge their deaths."

Slowly, the emperor nodded. "Very well," and he called out to the soldiers and spies "Go seek this young girl and bring her back to me. Whoever succeeds shall get a prize."

And so they began to search.


	4. Hunted

**IV**

I went to the capital, since it's the capital. It'd be fun to murder the emperor and take over Japan, right?

Underground, as I sped towards the capital, I started to have a bad feeling, gnawing on the edge of my mind, making my stomach rather uncomfortable. At first, I had dismissed it as hunger but I knew that wasn't the case. For some reasons, I felt like I'm missing something and thoughts started spinning in my head.

"What if I didn't kill everyone in the village?" "What if the stall-keeper isn't dead?" "What if-" whatever, the capital has many sightseeing tourist attractions, I believe.

Before I emerged from the ground, the roses told me something rather interesting. I discovered a trick to make sure I don't get caught when I emerge.

My left eye, still a rose, started to grow. It left an empty eye socket and grew towards the surface, connected to me through a single rose vine. When it emerged from the earth, I opened my eyes and I saw.

No one was around, thank goodness, and around me, I saw flowers with bees buzzing around them, cherry trees with their blossoms at full bloom and in the distance, the palace.

I was in the palace's garden.

Slowly, I emerged and after looking around I ran into the forest behind the garden.

The moment I entered the darkness of the forest, I knew I was being watched. Hundreds of pairs of eyes followed me as I ran deeper into the forest, wondering if I'm good enough to eat.

'_Good enough for you all to eat and get poisoned,'_ I reassured the eyes. I wonder if they heard me though.

I kept running, each step making the bad feeling grow worse. And then I stepped on a trap.

The moment I took that one step, I felt that something was extremely, _extremely_ wrong. The soil under my feet caved in and I fell down into a pit, landing with a thud. I tried to make the roses bring me into the earth and help me escape but when I tried to summon them, nothing happened.

I felt for my left eye, which is still a rose, and felt the petals of the rose crumble into dust between my fingers. I've ran out of power.

'_Seriously? At a time like this?'_ but I can't do anything about it. I lay down on the bottom of this pit and sighed.

'_I'm being rejected from the world,'_ I thought, my eyes cloing. _'It will never change. Never.' _

When my eyes opened again, the first thing I saw was an ugly, greasy face grinning down at me. I shot up and winced in pain; my power hasn't fully recovered yet.

"Found ya, girl," he rasped. "Meet the best trapper and planner in the world, cursed brat! I would be the last thing of the outside world you see before we're heading to the palace."

I almost laughed. I mean, he's _human_, a weak animal that only thinks themselves as high and don't precious their lives even a tiny bit, even if their life is hanging by a single thread! _Then_ they panic when they're already in death's hands and are staring at death in the face! Such _stupid_ creatures and they dare praise themselves against _me_?

I sat down and sighed; I might as well just wait till my powers recover.

"I hear ya girl, come on, I'm hauling yer up. I'm not so stupid to let ya take yer powers back."

I groaned and got to my feet. Then I plopped down again. "I'm not going!" I shouted at him.

He frowned. And that's when I started bawling.

I didn't mean to but apparently my two year old genes just took over me and so I'm crying and screaming and pounding the floor and grabbing fistfuls of my own hair and looking miserable. Because I was.

I hated my parents, who tried to kill me. I hated my village, who thought I was cursing the village. I hated the stall-keeper, so greedy he wouldn't even spare a single scarf for a freezing two year old. I hated the ugly pig-face who is now staring at me, so proud that he thinks he could catch me. And I absolutely, truly, purely, with all my heart, hated the world, for rejecting me the moment I was born.

Ol' pig-face doesn't know what to do and in the end, he got so frustrated that climbed into the pit and slapped me. Which confirmed my theory about pig-faced people being stupid.

Not only did that made me wail louder, it also made me start punching and kicking him and I'm pretty sure I kicked or punched him 5 or 6 times in the place where the sun don't shine because he doubled over, wheezing.

Suddenly, my left eye popped and the blood spiraled into a rose. _'Yes!'_ I mentally screamed and jumped up, ready to give dear pig-face some scars and bruises; maybe a corpse.

But almost immediately, I slumped down again, feeling exhausted. Pig-face cackled. "Didn't expect that, did ya? Y' knows what I am? I'm a sorcerer, and I feed off your energy, so easily, your energy will be gone, disappeared," he snapped his fingers "like that."

I managed a small growl.

"Now, there, doggy, don't be mean. You'll see his majesty soon enough." He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and he started walking out the forest. That's when I noticed that we're alreadu outside the pit.

"How did we get out of the pit?"

"I'm a sorcerer," he replied to me with a sly smile. Right, like that clears everything up. Well, now that I thought about it, it did. But who knows what these sorcerers can do? It's plain annoying.

So I let him carry me to the edge of the forest, where a bunch of other men and women are. When they saw Pig-face emerge from the forest, carrying me, they started cheering.

Somebody called out, "Get the emperor!" and a bunch of people went to seek the emperor.

Pig-face threw me onto the ground, in the middle of the crowd of people. I landed with a dull thud and for a second, I couldn't breathe. Then the air rushed back into my lungs and I managed to sit up.

Just then, somebody cried out, "It's the emperor!"


	5. 10 years

**V**

The emperor was in a fancy chair, being carried around by four big, muscular men. He stopped in front of me, examining me and I glared back at him.

I felt for my left eye, but it's still an eye, not a rose. Damn it.

The emperor frowned. "What is it, Beardface?" I growled at him.

All around me, people gasped.

"How dare she!"

"A little child like that…"

The emperor, though, chuckled. "Courage, eh? Well, I admire that." Then louder, to the guards, he called out, "Throw her into the cells!"

So they carried me into a single stinky, dark cell with bars that I bet I'd be able to break the moment my energy returned. I didn't even bother to struggle. They threw me inside and slammed the doors.

'Might as well rest for now,' I thought so I curled up in a corner and fell asleep.

When I awoke, I couldn't tell if it was still day or night. It was too dark in the prisons. Fortunately, though, I felt that my energy returned. Almost as soon as I opened my eyes, my left eye popped.

I smiled. 'Perfect', and strode to the bars, grabbing two and tried to pull them apart. Nothing happened. Even worse, I felt myself drained of energy again, just like back in the forest with Pigface. "What is this?" I groaned, sliding to the ground.

A twinkling laughter sounded in the shadows and from behind the guards, a pretty lady in a fancy kimono appeared. "It's seastone," she said in a musical, sweet voice. "No magic could be used when you are around seastone."

"Who are you?" my eyesight was starting to blur on the sides.

"I am Sakura." She knelt in front of me. And said, her voice no longer sweet, "I am from that village you're from as well. And you killed my parents."

I just nodded.

She bared her teeth. "Rot in this prison, little Rose," she called over her shoulder as she stood and began to leave. "You are never leaving this place."

And I blacked out.

No, I never escaped the prison. I stayed in it, too lazy to try to escape again. There's no point. I won't succeed.

So 10 years passed and I'm still in that cursed cell, staring up at the ceiling. The ceiling I grew up staring at. I spent most of my childhood in prison.

And that day, the day I seriously got annoyed at this place, I was 12. I haven't used my powers for 10 years and I'm starting to feel agitated.

The rose on my chest was quivering with power, my right eye, the green one, was glowing and my left eye, the red one was itching to become a rose again.

I leaned against the cool cell wall, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths to help suppress the power. But I finally snapped.

My eyes flew open and popped, the glowing, blood-red rose appearing on my face again, the first time in 10 years. A ripple of power rippled through the underground prison like the wind and prisoners and guards alike slumped down onto the ground, dead. The walls began to crumble and the ceiling caved in but I dove underground, a circle of roses and vines around me, protecting me and allowing me to breath.

"Bring me to light," I whispered to them and I felt myself moving, upwards, towards the light. With a burst of energy, I erupted from the ground, squinting my eyes against the bright light.

The roses retreated into the soil, leaving me in the middle of freshly turned soil, which felt soft beneath my bare toes. I spread my arms wide and stared up at the blue sky.

I've forgotten how blue the sky was, over the past 10 years, and now that I've seen it again, I never realized it was such a pretty shade of blue. I took a few deep breaths, taking in the fresh air. My lungs had gotten used to the stale underground air, and the fresh air made me even more wide awake.

"Hello, world," I murmured. "I know that you hate me but I'm back. Deal with it."

I sighed with pleasure. Freedom is sweet.

I lowered my arms and looked around. It hasn't changed much.

The garden behind me is bigger and lusher and the palace before me has sprouted a few more towers but that's all.

I spun around, debating whether or not I should go into the forest again. I wonder if Pigface is still alive. Suddenly, I heard a scream.

A servant-girl holding a bucket saw me and she spun around and ran back into the palace. Going to inform the armies I bet.

Sure enough, I was suddenly surrounded by a bunch of people wearing armor and spears or swords.

'Sweet', I thought. 'Now I can practice my fighting skills.' I'm a bit rusty from not fighting for 10 years.

From what I can tell, there are about 500 people who came to oppress me. Not bad.

I took a step forward and spread my arms, as if I'm about to embrace them, and said the first thing that came to mind, "Come kill me."

And they all charged.


	6. Battle

**VI**

I twirled and danced through the army, roses shooting up from the ground, strangling people and sometimes shooting right through them. I was slightly out of practice, but nothing revives your killing skills better than a good fight against a few hundred people.

After I finished about three hundred, my clothes were in tatters, which I'm secretly happy about, because then I have an excuse to change out the horrible prison clothes, and I had a huge smile on my face that made my cheek muscles hurt.

This is the best I've felt in ten years. I turned to the rest of the army and shouted, "What are you fighting?"

Silence met my question.

"Are you fighting me?" I asked, pointing at myself, "or are you fighting a curse?" I fingered the rose sprouting from my left eye socket. A bunch of soldiers dropped their swords, turned tail, and ran. Cowards. But they didn't get far. A wall of roses enveloped them and when they retreated, they were just a bunch of bloody corpses.

I smirked at the other soldiers' expressions.

"Witch!" I suddenly heard someone scream. I spun around, narrowing my eyes. Sakura was standing a few meters behind me, a crazed look in her eyes and a sword in her hands.

"Long time no see, Sakura-san. You never visited me in the ten years. I have to say, I feel left out," I smirked at her trembling form.

Silence met me so I kept talking, "Okay, two things, Sakura. One, you're holding the sword wrong. Two, what do you want?"

"Shut up!" She screamed at me. "Come fight me you witch. Or are you too scared?"

I stared at her for a while- she had grown even prettier shrugged. "Sure, why not?" and I charged, and sword made from rose vines appearing in my hand.

We slashed and parried, tying, much to my distaste.

I dodged her attack and returned it, grazing her on the arm. In return she added a cut on my thigh. After a while, both of us were doubled over, panting.

"Not bad," I said, grinning. She just glared at me and suddenly sliced at me. I stepped back just in time, randomly jabbing my sword at her. And to both of our shock, it went straight through her chest.

Her eyes widened and her sword clattered to the ground while she staggered a few steps towards me. "Not so proud anymore, are you?" I sneered. But my victory was short-lived. As she fell to the ground, her hand curled around the rose on my chest, my lifeline, and yanked it down with her. Pain shot from my chest as a long rose vine was pulled from my insides.

I screamed in rage and pain before slumping to my knees, my trembling arms barely holding myself up. I should be thankful the vine was long. It hasn't been completely pulled from my body yet. I still have a chance of living. With shaky hands, I pried the rose from Sakura's cold hands but black and red spots were dancing in my vision and the sides were getting fuzzy.

"No," I whispered as I fell to the ground. I was so close to freedom, so close.

The last thing I saw was the blue sky, so calm and peaceful, so unpleasantly beautiful. And then I vanished.

Back in the battlefield, the bunch of soldiers that weren't killed looked around, confused.

"Lady Sakura was fighting the witch…" one said.

"Well, that's her over there, she seems dead," another pointed at the body in the distance.

"Dead?!" a third whisper-screamed, horrified.

"Yes," a fourth replied. "But I saw the witch die as well. Then she just… disappeared."

"Disappeared?!" the third soldier whisper-screamed again, horrified.

"Why yes, so shut up and stop whispering," another said, annoyed.

"What do we tell the emperor?"

"That she's dead, of course."

"What about Lady Sakura?"

"Well, I can't bring back the dead. Can you?"

"Sadly, no. If I could I would've brought back the old cow that my family ate. Should've sold her. At least the money would have lasted us longer."

That brought a round of laughter among the soldiers. And this was erased from history, this gruesome tale of a little girl who was cursed because of her parents' faults.

She was forgotten by everyone, erased from history, destroyed from writing. Only death remembered her and since she wasn't fully dead and no one wanted her, marked her as his.

And buried under meters of earth, was a single coffin. A beautiful coffin, made of rosewood, with patterns of roses etched on it with incredible detail. Inside the coffin was a girl. Her expression was peaceful, like she was asleep; her pale skin seemed to be almost glowing, and her breathing was so shallow you wouldn't have noticed it. Her dark hair was so long it would've trailed on the ground behind her if she ever walked again and it was piled around her like a cushion. From her chest was a long rose vine, on the tip, a black rose.

And for hundreds of years, that's where she lay.


	7. The First Assistant

**VII**

I was in a dark room, but it was cozy. It was warm and comfortable and I'm just floating there, drifting in and out of consciousness.

That was when I heard it. I've heard many things before, conversations, snippets of sentences, but it was always faint, as if it came from far away. It's quite interesting, frankly speaking, to hear the worries of other people and to realize how stupid we humans are. Now that raised a new question: Am I human?

Anyways, I'm once again, accidently eavesdropping on somebody's conversations. But this time, it was louder than before.

"Look what you did, Aiko!" a voice said. It was the voice of a young girl's, and it was sweet and sounds nice enough.

"Not my fault," a second voice said. This voice was also of a girl's, though she sounds older and her voice was colder, more monotone.

"Oh, it's fine," a third, kind, cheerful voice said. "We had fun though. Oh hey, look what's that?"

"That?" the first voice said. "It looks like a box! And it's so pretty! Look at all the patterns!"

"It's a coffin, you idiot," the second voice sneered.

I'm guessing the other girl is pouting.

"Whatever!" the third voice sounds exasperated. "Just dig it up! Does anyone has a rope? Oh, can I borrow your that thingy? It has rope coiled inside… Thank you."

There was a loud thud.

"Wow, you're right Aiko, it really is a coffin!" the third voice said.

Aiko huffed. "Of course I'm right."

"Open it, open it!" voice number one cried excitedly.

The third voice sound unsure. "Are you sure, Deseria? I mean, it's a coffin. There could be a dead body in it…"

"A dead body?" Aiko seem to sound perked up. "I could use a dead body. I need some bone powder for that new experiment…"

"Ew," both Deseria and the third voice said.

There was the sound of a box opening.

"Oh my God!" Deseria and the third voice screamed. "There's a freaking, living girl in there!"

Aiko sighed. "Why? Why isn't there a dead body?"

"Is she still alive?" Deseria asked in a trembling voice.

"Yeah, there's a pulse. But it's faint though," Third voice said.

"Well, we have no use of a little girl. Rebury her," Aiko ordered.

"No!" Third voice sounded horrified. "We can't do that!"

"Look at her clothes!" Deseria's cheerful mood seems to be back. "It's all tattered and old! Like she just went to battle 400 years ago!

"But she looks twelve."

"Whatever."

"Do whatever you guys want with that little girl. I'm going back to my lab," Aiko said coldly.

"A.K.A. the basement," Third voice said.

"Shut up."

"I'm not a little girl," I muttered to no one in particular.

Deseria screamed. "She talked!"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Many times, when I've heard conversations, I've talked to myself, but no one ever reacted or replied. So why now?

"Hello?" Third voice asked uncertainly.

Is she talking… to me?

I tried to open my eyes but it was painfully hard.

There was a warm glow and I felt suddenly very energetic. Then, my eyes finally opened. But I can see nothing. Everything is white, just a white, blinding light. Have I gone blind?

"Wow, look at her eyes!" Deseria exclaimed. "The left one's red and the right one's green!"

"Christmas colors," Third voice agreed, sounding impressed. What is Christmas?

My eyes began to adjust a little, and the dark shapes of two figures leaning over me became slightly distinctive.

"Is she blind?" Deseria asked.

"Maybe she's just adjusting to the light," Third voice said. "Hand me an umbrella."

Suddenly, the light became slightly darker and my eyes adjusted almost immediately.

"Where-?" My voice was hoarse from un-use.

"My house," a girl with black, wavy, waist-length hair and warm brown eyes said, smiling. She's the third voice. "My back yard, to be more accurate. My cousin Aiko accidently blasted a hole in the ground and we found you."

I sat up slowly. _My rose_, I noticed. It had coiled back into my body so now there's only a blood red rose growing from my chest. Wait, red? It's supposed to be black. I looked up and saw the two girls. _It must have turned red_, I realized, _when they healed me somehow. _

The other girl, Deseria, was staring at me with wide eyes. Her black hair is in a long braid that hangs down to her knees and she has bright, emerald green eyes.

"You have really long hair," I said to her, frowning.

She frowned back. "You're not one to say."

That's when I noticed how long my hair is. "I didn't even realize!" I exclaimed.

"Hello," Third voice said. "For now, I can't tell you my real name. All I can tell you is that I'm the Queen."

"Of what?"

She hesitated. "Um… the world?"

"You don't look like a Queen."

"No, but royal blood runs in my veins."

I nodded. "My name is Kuroi Bara."

"Well, Bara, can you tell me why you were in that coffin?"

I strained to remember my past. Then, it all flooded back to me. The Curse, Jail, the Battle.

I started talking, telling her everything I remember, from the time I have known I was cursed, to the time Sakura dragged me down with her. The Queen is a good listener and nodded after I finished, looking thoughtful.

Then, she brightened up again. "Well, Bara, I have a question for you. Care to be my assistant?"

I almost choked on nothing. "What?!"

"I'm the Queen," she said, "but at the same time, I'm a twelve year old girl who's still in sixth grade, so obviously, I'm very busy."

"Sixth grade?"

"Well, you seem to be from four hundred years ago… I go to school, where I learn things that is supposed to help me in daily life. Every year, we go up one level so now I'm in Sixth grade, like level 6."

I nodded.

"As my assistant," she continued, "you help me do things that I don't have time to do and since I have a LOT of stuff to do, you'll be really busy until I find another assistant. Then you could split the work."

I nodded again.

"So… yes? Or no?" she glanced at me hopefully.

"What do I do?" I asked a little warily.

She looked so happy she looked like she might burst. She hauled me to my feet, or, she tried to. The moment our hands touched both of us drew back, pain searing in our hands. I looked down at my hand and saw the skin smoking and blistering, though only for a second. It healed quickly.

The Queen looked at me through narrow eyes. "Stand up," she commanded with such force she actually seemed like the Queen for once.

I stood up.

"Turn around."

I turned so my back is facing her. She put my too long hair over my left shoulder, careful not to touch my skin, her eyes bearing into my back and neck. And she gasped.

"Death has marked you as his," she said, her face stony.

"What?"

"It means, Bara, that you are cursed. Again. But this time, by Death."

I groaned and buried my face into my hands.

"But," she said cheerfully, "we can turn the curse into a blessing."

I looked up. "That doesn't make sense."

"We can transform the curse in to a blessing," she repeated. Seeing my still confused expression, she said, "My cousin, my other cousin, is also cursed. My uncle cursed him so that he will not be able to live past the age of 16. That's an unbreakable curse. But your curse is saying that Death will be able to control you. However, if you have enough willpower or strength, you can twist the curse around so that you may control Death."

I inhaled sharply. "Control Death?" That's the best idea ever!

She nodded. "There's a mark burned into the back of your neck. It's a scythe crossing a cloak: the Mark of Death." She tapped it twice and muttered an incantation. "We should be able to touch fine now. If you become my assistant, I will mark you as mine and you'll have to respond whenever I call for you."

I nodded. A ring appeared on her finger and I kneeled down before her, flipping my hair over my shoulder. I took her hand and kissed the ring, feeling relieved, for some reason, and also slightly awkward.

Then, she said in the voice of a real queen, "Here, we sign a contract and you shall serve me eternally. Our souls shall connect; my life is your life, my death is your death. Serve me well, Kuroi Bara, for the sake of your own life. Rise."

I rose. A charm appeared in her hands and she held it out to me. I took it. Then, she put a finger on my forehead. "I name you, Death Rose."

There was a searing pain in the small of my back and a glow seems to surround us.

Then, the glow that had enveloped us before faded away, leaving me staring at the charm the Queen handed me. "Um… two questions. One, what does this thing do? And two, if you just _named_ me, is that my name now?"

She took the charm and examined it. It was a skull with a rose growing from the left eye. Fits me. "According to Aiko, this charm can become anything you want. For example, a necklace." A chain seem to shoot out from the charm and it became a necklace

"Um… a sword?" a sword appeared and from the end of the handle was a string, which hung the charm.

"Not bad, eh?" the Queen grinned at me. I took the charm, willing it to become a necklace, and put it on.

"And as for 'Death Rose', it's like a code name. Like, a nickname, maybe. It explains your abilities and stuff and it's easy to remember."

I nodded.

She smiled and led me to the double doors of a gigantic, humongous, immense, Olympic-size mansion. Somehow, I knew, it's the 'palace'.

The doors opened on its own and the Queen stood at the doorway, smiling at my awestruck expression as I looked around the exotic home.

"You live here," I whisper-screamed at her.

She smiled even wider. "Yup. Congratulations, Kuroi Bara. You are my first assistant."


	8. Shadow Rose

**I**

I was framed.

Even worse, I was framed by my own _sister_.

So now I'm an orphan, being chased by police and the government, who must all be bonkers. I mean, _who_ would believe that an eight year old would kill her own parents and brother?

Sure, I was rebellious and have a giant ego or something but that's only because my family is _rich_. Or, I should say, we _were_ rich. And we _were_ a family; our family has shattered. Shattered by my own sister who murdered for her own selfish reasons. And to add to that, she just _had_ to add me in her selfish plans.

I'm her least favorite sibling, you see. Well, now I am. A few weeks ago, it was still my brother, whom she murdered along with our parents. So after Mother, Father, and Mark were found, dead in their beds, Mariana had cleverly designed all the clues to point to me.

So now, while she's in our super comfortable mansion and flirting with the male guests that we often has, I'm out here, in the cobblestone streets and alleys, shivering from the cold and rain. And my deepest desire is to run back home and stick a knife through my dear ol' sister. Then, at least I'd be arrested for _real_ murder, not framed murder.

My family was a noble, one of the richer and higher ranked families in England. My father has dark hair, tanned skin, and twinkling blue eyes, if I remember correctly. He's big and tall and looks scarier than he really is. In truth, he's playful, loves pranks, and Mother always calls him naughty.

Mother, is the opposite of Father. She's small, skinny, and dainty, with pale, porcelain skin, light brown hair that's almost blonde, and dark green eyes. She has a weak body but loves the outdoors.

They were the best parents you could ever have.

Now, my older sister, Mariana. She's six years older than me, and is extremely pretty, with Mother's curly light brown/blonde hair and Father's eyes. She's proud and extremely selfish, spoiled, I called her, which was what made her dislike me. See? She's spoiled! Three words to describe her? She's a bitch. Well, that's how Marian, my second older sister described her, though she never told me what 'bitch' meant.

Marian, my second older sister, is three years older than me. She has both Father's hair and eyes. She's quiet, unusually mature, and kind, and an extremely good cook. She can make literally _anything_.

Mari, my younger sister, is three years younger than me, and looks the most similar to me, with Father's dark hair and Mother's green eyes. Unlike me, however, is her happy-go-lucky attitude and inability to lie. She is SUPER immature with the smartness to a 2 year old, even though she's five. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea, she's stupidly gullible.

Mark, the only son in our family, is six years younger than me, so he was only 2 when Mariana poisoned his milk. He looks like the boy version of Mariana, and the only other child who looks more like Mother, though he Has Father's structure. He's cute, cheerful, playful, and annoying as hell, as Marian had described. His favorite hobby: annoy Mariana, which is why Mariana hates his guts.

Then, there's me.

I'm nothing special, really, which is why if you think about it, it makes sense that I'd kill Father and Mother, since they never really pay attention to me, though there's no reason why I'd kill Mark.

Like Mari, I had Father's hair and Mother's eyes, along with her skinny structure. Like Mariana, I was proud and cunning, though I'm a lot more humble. Like Marian, I'm mature and a good liar/ actor and can be really sarcastic when I want to. Like Mark, one of my favorite hobbies is to annoy Mariana, which is why I absolutely adore Mark. The only thing I had to myself was my rebellious streak, which I got from seemingly nowhere.

Now, however, I'm not the proud daughter of the rich noble family, but an orphan who has nowhere to go but on the streets. And as I sat there, leaning against a brick wall, my stomach rumbling with hunger and a thin blanket that blocked out absolutely no rain or coldness, I listened to my inner voice, the voice stained by hatred and self pity and I decided: I will kill Mariana.


	9. Mrs Mildred's Orphanage for Boys

**II**

The streets are the worst place ever, especially in winter. It's stinky, the walls are slimy with… stuff, and there's an unfortunate lack of food. Water is no problem if you don't mind drinking out of the sewer.

The nice thing about the streets is that it's a wonderful teacher. You'd be able to learn how to survive, steal, stay healthy, not be picky, and fight in a week or two. Although its teaching methods are slightly harsh, hey, it's free!

So far I think I'm getting an 'A' in all the subjects since I haven't died yet.

The food wasn't half bad, sometimes stinky and moldy, fresh from the garbage, and other times, a steaming loaf of bread, fresh from the oven. The water is sometimes dirty and murky, straight from the sewer, of course, and other times it's cold and refreshing, straight from the clouds. Even better, you get ice cream in winter!

For me, I take a few extra subjects: Disguising, and Hiding.

I now have almost the entire London mapped out in my head with hiding places, food/water sources marked out.

There was a few times when I disguised as an old lady when some police passed by. Once I even saw my family carriage! That time, I disguised myself as a boy and ran right in front of the horses pulling the carriage. Yes, I almost died but I could hear Mariana screaming from inside the carriage as it swerved and almost toppled over to avoid crushing me, so it was worth it. Then, our driver Ferdinand started yelling some pretty unflattering things to me, so now more curses and swear words are stocked inside the part of my brain marked 'How to flatter your enemies'. This is what you call, 'Two birds with one stone.'

When I was nine, however, my life became even _worse_, which I thought wasn't even possible. I had gotten sick of disguising, since it can be annoying to get ready so I spent more time hiding and blending in with the shadows.

But I think I blended in too much.

Long story short, I am now able to control the shadows.

There was a time when I accidently fell back into a patch of shadow and ended up in the middle of a forest. Took me a week to find my way out. After that, I became more cautious about my newfound power/curse but slowly, I managed to get it under control.

I was ten when I stumbled across an orphanage, two years after I was framed. The stupid policemen haven't given up their search yet so I haven't given up my MM Plan- 'Murder Mariana' Plan.

I had just stolen a loaf of bread and was looking for places to hide to get rid of the annoying baker who's chasing me at the moment. Then, I noticed a building I don't remember seeing and thinking it looks pretty abandoned, I barged right in and slid to the ground, panting.

Only after I saw that the baker had ran passed the small building did I notice the crowd of people in the room. Correction: the crowd of _boys_.

When I saw them, I blinked. In unison, they blinked back at me, as if they never saw a girl before; and I'm guessing some of them never did, since a few of them are sending confused looks at me.

"Erm… Hi?" I waved awkwardly and was met by silence. As they stared at me, or more like, stared at the loaf of bread in my hands, I observed them.

All of them were skinny and gaunt, their skin a sickly color. In simpler words, they look starved. I frowned, counting them quickly.

There are about 23 of them cramped into this tiny room. Poor them.

"Excuse me?" I cautiously asked. "Is there a kitchen in here?"

They nodded.

"Where is it?"

They pointed at a door across the room.

I nodded at them. "Thank you," and headed towards the kitchen. I could feel their gaze following me as I stepped into the tiny, dirty kitchen. I carefully took a rusty knife from the shelves and headed out.

Seeing the wooden table at the corner of the room, I headed over there, plopped the bread onto the dusty surface of the table, and started cutting it to small pieces.

_'22, 23, 24!'_ I mentally counted. All the pieces were about the same size. I'm glad I stole a big loaf of bread.

I turned back to the crowd of boys, who were watching my every movement. "Line up," I ordered, "unless you don't want bread."

Immediately, the boys all surged forward, trying to form a messy line. A fight started breaking out among them as they struggled to be first. I sighed. Pounding my hand on the desk (which wobbled dangerously), I shouted, "Whoever fights are NOT getting a piece of bread! Line up according to age!"

That got their attention. Slowly, they queued up; the first being a small boy around the age of 6 while the oldest looked about 15.

One by one, I handed them a piece of bread. There was a particular boy with dirty blonde hair, bright green eyes, a mischievous smile that screams trouble, and looks about my age who tried to steal another piece, but thank you, Master Living-on-the-streets, I now have unusually quick instincts and slapped his hands away before he could take it.

After the last boy had taken his piece, I took the last remaining piece and helped myself.

Suddenly, the door on the side slammed open and a fat woman wearing a frilly white dress and some jewelry came out, her eyes sweeping over the room, eyeing the boys' bulging cheeks, stuffed with bread. Then, her eyes landed on me.

"You! Who are you!" she shrieked, pointing a short, chubby finger at me.

I stood up, brushed off the bread crumbs from my tattered dress, which I found in the trash can, and curtsied. Just because I spent two years on the streets doesn't mean I forgot all my manners.

"Hello, fat lady," _actually, I think I did forget all my manners._ "Is this, perhaps, an orphanage?"

"Obviously!" she barked. "Go read the sign outside."

I went outside and read the sign, "Mrs. Mildred's Orphanage for Boys."

"Wait, is Mildred your surname?"

"Yes! Now what do you want?"

"Wow, your temper matches your looks," I muttered. Thankfully, or regretfully, depending on how you think, she didn't hear me, though a few boys near me were hiding grins.

"You're married? I'm surprised. But I believe he ditched you?"

Her face turned a blotchy color. Aha, Bulls-eye. I was only guessing, but I have always been strangely lucky in that part.

"_I said, what do you want?!_"

"Why an all-boys orphanage? You're obviously a woman. Oh, did your husband ditch you because you were unable to bear him a son?"

Her face turned even redder and she opened her mouth to shout back at me, but I cut her off before she even started talking.

"And those jewelries," I said, my eyes narrowing; I had noticed her expensive jewelry the moment she stepped in. Once again, thank you, Master Living-on-the-streets, I have become unusually observant.

"Those jewelries," I repeated, "you can't possibly afford it. Someone must have stolen it for you."

"No," I whispered, my eyes narrowing even more, "That's the emblem of the Heller family. That's a noble family." I took a few steps forward, my eyes locked on the locket that she wore around her neck. "That means that you were the wife of Warren Heller, since you seem like the right age, but were kicked out when you… _cheated_ on him?"

The whole orphanage, including Mrs. Mildred was staring at me with wide eyes. "You know," I continued in an amused tone, "there was a rumor years ago that sir Warren Heller had married a servant girl. Surprisingly, it was you. Mildred isn't your surname. Your full name is Mildred Heller."

Mrs. Mildred's mouth opened and closed for a while, until she finally managed, "How…?"

I clasped my hands behind my back, cocked my head to one side, and smiled my brightest smile. "I guessed."

Imagine the awkwardness.

For a moment, there was absolute silence. Then, Mrs. Mildred's evil clone came back and she shouted, "_NOW_. What. Do. You. Want?"

I held up my hands. "Whoa, whoa, calm down, big guy." A few boys snickered. "This is an orphanage isn't it? I want to join your little club. If it's not obvious enough, I'm an orphan."

"This is a _boys'_ orphanage!"

I shrugged. "So? I'll be the only girl here to satisfy their active teenage hormones." I gestured at the crowd of boys. Then, I added hastily, "Not that I'm going to do anything weird," at her suspicious gaze. Her suspicion in her eyes didn't waver.

"I'm ten!" I protested. "I haven't even reached puberty yet! Also, I'm good at stealing, cooking, and weaving. Those are the things the boys need!" I smiled hopefully at her.

Mrs. Mildred scowled, huffed, and finally turned back into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Well," I said with a satisfied grin, "I take that as a yes."


	10. Secrets

**III**

I was the orphanage's savior. I stole enough food for everyone, cooked some, and even made some new clothes to replace their tattered ones. Sometimes, I even stole pieces of jewelry for Mrs. Mildred.

Apparently, Mrs. Mildred had a soft side for girls, since she's always wanted a daughter. She would be secretly nice to me and became a whole less cranky after I came. She gave me a tiny spare bedroom connected to hers since I'm a girl and let me take long, hot baths, thought I feel slightly guilty for not saving any warm water for the boys.

5 months had passed since I came to the orphanage.

A nice summer day, I had stolen 5 loaves of bread and am currently passed out pieces of bread. When everyone had gotten a piece, I took my own share of food and plopped down on a bed next to a random guy.

"Hey, that's my bed!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of bread. I turned to look at him.

He was the boy who had tried to steal an extra piece of bread the first time I came to the orphanage. After 5 months, he had hardly changed. Other than the fact that his hair had grown even longer, the mischievous glint in his eyes and smile were still the same.

"So?"

He mumbled something that I didn't catch.

"You know," I said between bites, "I've been here 5 months and I don't even know your names. Care to introduce?"

The boy grinned. "Sure. So that's Finnie, Charles over there, Daniel…" he pointed to each boy, naming them. I quickly memorized it.

"… and the big guy there is Stale," he finished, pointing at the oldest, 15 year old boy.

"Stale? That's a weird name."

"Yeah well," then, he frowned. "Wait a sec, it's Slate."

"Those two sound nothing alike!"

"Well, you just switch the l and the t…"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, what about you? You haven't introduced yourself yet."

He grinned even wider, held out a hand. "The name's Favian, my lady."

"Fits you, my good sir," I said in mock playfulness. "Mine's Maria," I took his hand and shook it.

"What a beautiful name!" Favian exclaimed.

"Aren't you just a sweetheart?" I cooed, and then in my normal voice, I said, "Okay, stop, this is making me sick."

Both of us laughed.

"But that was a nice accent," I said to him.

"You too," he grinned.

And at that moment, I realized with a slight pang of sadness, I just made my first real friend.

The hottest month of the year had past and it's slowly becoming cooler. Just another day at the orphanage.

Today, Slate had decided to be annoying.

"So, Favian got himself a girlfriend?"

"Shut up, Slate," Favian fiddled with his cap.

"Oh look, you're blushing!"

"It's called the heat, Stale."

"It's autumn, you idiot," Slate snarled, "and don't call me Stale."

"Hey, Favian," I said, bored, "why is there the smell of _stale_ breath around us? Did Slate fart again?"

Slate turned a brilliant shade of red. "You little-"

I clapped my hands to my ears. "INNOCENT CHILDREN IN THE ROOM," I yelled. "NO SWEARING ALLOWED."

Slate drew his fist back to punch me, but I grabbed his fist and twisted it rather painfully. Then he ran out the room.

"Coward," I muttered.

"I'm bored," Favian complained.

I sighed. "Me too."

Not only that, I just don't want to move. And also, I have a really, really bad feeling spreading in my chest.

"You look worried," Favian noticed.

I just shook my head.

That's when I heard it. A cold, proud, female voice just outside the orphanage.

"Are you sure she's here?" it asked.

A deep male voice answered the female voice, "She was spotted quite a few times around here…"

I didn't need to hear anymore. Because somehow, Mariana had caught up with me.

"Favian," I hissed, panicked, "Back me up."

"Why?" he asked, puzzled.

"I leaving," I said, trying not to sound sad, "forever."

His eyes widened but before he could say anything, I grabbed a cloak, nodded goodbye at Mrs. Mildred, and looked around the orphanage one more time before climbing out the window. Right on cue, the door of the orphanage slammed open. I caught sight of the beautiful, pale face of Mariana before I disappeared into the shadows of an alley.

Or at least, I tried to. Somebody pulled me back before I could shadow-travel away, however, and even worse, it was Favian.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed. "I've set Finnie and Charles in one of their crazy rants, Brian, Daniel, and Slate are in a fight, and Mrs. Mildred's screaming at Lester."

I smiled. "Thanks Favian, you're the best."

"Now what were you doing? It's like you're becoming part of the shadows."

I gulped. "Yeah, well, it's complicated. Long story. Whatever! I have to go!" I turned around and was about to shadow-travel away when Favian yanked me back again.

"I'm coming with you," he said, then added hastily at my furious expression, "and nothing's changing my mind."

I pursed my lips. "Fine. Grab my hand." And both of us melted into darkness.

We arrived in the woods.

I looked around. "Let's camp out here. We're pretty far from the orphanage which means they won't be able to find us in a while. Favian, try to make a fire. I'm going to get some food." I pulled a knife out of my pocket.

"Holy smoke, where did you get that?" Favian asked, staring at the knife.

I scoffed. "From the kitchen, obviously."

"Right," he grinned and began trying to make a fire. Time to hunt.

After a few hours, we were eating a squirrel that I've caught easily.

"So, tell me why you were running from that hot lady," Favian said.

I pursed my lips. "It's a secret."

"Then let's play a game. It's called Exchanging Secrets. You tell me a secret and I'll tell you one of mine."

I thought about it for a while and finally sighed. "Fine. You go first."

"Sure," he grinned. "Well, my hair is actually blonde, not brown."

"You're hair is blond," I said, confused. "Except it's streaked with brown."

He cursed. "Oh seriously? I gotta start looking in the mirror. Last time I checked it was still brown!"

I rolled my eyes. "Last time you checked must be a year ago. But why did you dye it brown?"

He just wriggled his eyebrows. "Your turn," he said. "A secret."

I sighed and began pondering what I should tell him. Suddenly, almost unconsciously, I started talking.

"You know that woman at the orphanage? I was running from her. Her name is Mariana and she's… she's my sister."

Favian choked on a piece of squirrel meat. "But she's obviously a noble! Does that mean… Wait," he eyed me suspiciously, "Are you _the_ Maria? Maria Rozen? The one who killed her parents and brother?"

I chuckled humorlessly. "I've never heard of _the_ Maria, but yes, that's me."

"Then you killed your parents," he sounded horrified. "Your own parents and brother."

I looked at him in the eye. "Favian, do I look like the type of person that would kill my own parents? Everyone only believed that because I was the most rebellious of the five Rozen children. And why would I kill them? How would that benefit me? I was framed, Favian," I looked away. "I was framed by my own sister."

Then I turned back to him. "Do you believe me?"

He was still eyeing me suspiciously. Then suddenly, he grinned. "Hell yes, I believe you! You're nice! It's hard to believe you'll hurt anyone really. I should've realized," he shook his head. "Your sister, Mariana? She's creepy. When she comes into the room, the first things you see are her eyes. It's like being dumped in a bucket of ice. That's how cold and cruel her eyes are. Sure, she has a pretty face and a nice body, but those eyes…" he shuddered. "I should've known," he added. "That girl has the look of a murderer."

"Thanks, Favian," I said, moved.

"Okay, another secret. Then you tell me about that weird shadow thing you did," he leaned back against a tree. "I'm also running away from someone. My Ma."

"Why?"

"She went kinda bonkers. Kept crying and going off about a girl with a rose as a left eye and a rose growing from her chest. Also about someone meeting a similar fate. It got creepy so I ran away. At first, she keep finding me but then…" he look so guilty I said, "If you don't feel comfortable saying it, don't."

But he shook his head. "It feels better to tell someone. Anyways, she was following me this one time and I ran and she got hit by a carriage and the horses."

"So she's dead?" I whispered.

"It's all my fault," he moaned, burying his face in his hands. "And the last thing I said to her was calling her crazy."

Awkwardly, I patted him on the back and asked, "Then what about your father?"

He shrugged. "Never met him. Before, when Ma was still sane, she'd tell me about him. Said I got his hair and quickness."

"That's nice."

He shrugged again. "Yeah well, you're turn!"

So I told him about my abilities to control the shadows. By the end of my story, his eyes are as wide as saucers. "Dude, that's cool!"

I smiled wryly. "It's a curse, Favian. Look," I made a small cut on my finger. When the blood oozed out, it was black. I had discovered that when I was cooking for the boys of the orphanage and accidently cut myself. I'm cursed by the shadows.

"So?" he asked. "Now let's rest. I'm tired."

So we lay down and slept.

At around midnight, we were awakened by the clatter of hooves.

"Wha…?" Favian groaned, still half asleep.

I told him to be quiet and we hid among the bushes, listening carefully.

Then, a voice I recognized as Mariana's said, "Are you sure it's around here?"

"Yes," the voice of a young girl said.

I swore quietly. "I knew that Mari's tracking skills were good but I didn't know she was _this_ good!"

Favian looked confused. "Who's Mari?"

"My younger sister," I hissed. "My other siblings are brainwashed by Mariana. And even worse, they're super talented."

Then, we fell quiet as the two sisters rode past us. And suddenly stopped. Mari, with her long hair in a braid swerved around and stared at our hiding spot. "There," she whispered, pointing straight at us.

"Run!" I yelled and the two of us burst from our hiding place. We'd never be able to outrun the horses but maybe…

I threw my knife at Mari, which hit her horse. I could hear her scream as her horse fell down sideways, dead, and crushed her legs beneath it.

Favian stumbled and fell as we ran and turning around to help him up, I saw Mariana shoot a flare at the sky. Almost immediately a bunch of policemen and soldiers ran out from the shadows behind her.

"Favian!" I shrieked, trying to haul him to his feet but he kept stumbling.

"Get them!" Mariana commanded at the same time.

"Run!" Favian shouted. "Run, Maria, just do it!" Then he shouted in pain when a bullet hit his leg.

I stumbled backwards.

"Run!" Favian shouted again. This time, I listened to him.

'_I'll come save you_,' I promised him. '_No matter what._'

The last thing I heard before shadow-traveling away was Mariana saying, "Take the boy. He may be useful."

Then, I blacked out.


	11. The Heller Manor

**IV**

I woke in a very white room. Painfully, I sat up and tried to let my eyes adjust to the whiteness.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake," a plump lady came in from a small door on the side of the room. "We were so worried!"

"We're am I?" I asked hoarsely.

"We found you at the edge of the forest, dear, and brought you here," the plump lady continued as if she didn't hear me, which I'm guessing she didn't. Then she passed a cup of water to me. "Here drink this."

After drinking the cup of water, I asked again, "Where am I?"

"The Heller Manor! The Master wants to see you later, after you're strong enough to walk around."

I nodded and slumped back into the pillows. Somebody had changed my dirty dress into a silky white one. It feels good to be in luxury again.

I ate some chocolate that the plump woman, who introduced herself as Madam Fatima, gave me.

After about an hour, I woke up from a small nap feeling incredibly pumped.

"Madam Fatima?" I called. She came from the little side door.

"Yes, my dear?"

"I think I'd be able to meet Lord Heller now."

She smiled. "Nice to see you healing so fast. Lord Heller is currently unavailable. We'll use the extra time to dress you up."

I nodded, got wobbly to my feet and followed her into another room. She gave me a simple brown dress that came to my ankle and black flats. Then, after I dressed, she braided my long hair.

"There," she smiled as she brushed my bangs, parted to the left, out of my eyes. "Now go help out in the kitchen until the Master is ready."

She led me to the kitchen where the Head Cook told me to cut the bread without even looking at me. After 30 agonizing minutes of cutting loaf after loaf of bread, Madam Fatima came to bring to meet Lord Heller.

I couldn't help feeling nervous about meeting Mrs. Mildred's ex-husband.

When we arrived at the office, I took deep breaths before knocking and walking in.

'_Remember you're manners_,' my mind screamed. '_This man saved you're life! Act like another noble…_'

"What is your name?" Lord Heller asked. He has graying brown hair and beard with kind, twinkling brown eyes.

I curtsied. "My name is Maria, my lord."

He chuckled. "Good to see you have manners. Now sit down," he said, gesturing at the chair in front of his desk, "and tell me about yourself."

"Well," I started slowly, my hands turning clammy._ I can't tell him I'm a framed murderer, can I?_ I just have to make up a story.

"Well," I started again, "my parents are dead and my sisters are working in another family. I use to work there but then left because I didn't like it there."

That's good enough, right? Now big guy, just let me go…..

"How did you end up at the edge of our forest?"

Damn it, more questions.

I licked my dry lips. "Erm… well, after I left the mansion, I lived on the streets for a bit and was wandering around and somehow…"

He nodded, looking thoughtful. I have a feeling he didn't really believe me. True, that's the worst lie I've ever said.

"Okay… So what do you plan to do next?" he asked uncertainly.

_ Kill Mariana. Rescue Favian. Kill Mariana. Go back to the orphanage. Kill Mariana._

"Well, can I work here?" For the first time ever, I'm glad my mouth has a mind of its own.

Lord Heller looked surprised. "Work here? Are you sure?"

I nodded. At least then I'd have a place to stay and food/water.

Lord Heller stroked his beard. "Sure, why not?"

My eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes. But you have to pass a test to convince me that you are worthy to keep. Are you ready?"

I nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay. I'll tell one of my servants to show you around the mansion. Then we start the test." He clapped his hands a few times and called out, "Hallie!"

A young woman around the age of 20 stepped into the room. She has brown hair and eyes of a similar color. She is 20, that I can confirm, but she looked much older with the tired look and slumped back. Is being a servant that tiring? I tried to recall how my personal maid, Isa, had looked like. She was 5 years older than me with blonde hair and brown eyes but the details of her face were too blurry in my memory for me to see.

As she showed me around the manor, I couldn't help noticing that all the other servants looked tired as well. Even Madam Fatima seemed weary now that I looked closely. It kind of scared me but I shrugged it off as servant work.

Finally, Hallie brought me to the basement. "Here is where the wine is stored. If you pass the test and are given kitchen duties, it is required to memorize all the different types of wines, their country origin, and the date that it was made."

God, being a servant is harder than I thought. If you're a maid, you have to remember what your master's favorite hobbies, food, types of clothes, entertainment are. Kitchen servants have to memorize the different types of wines, foods, and have to have good cooking skills. Gardeners have to remember the different herbs growing outside, the different weeds, how to organize flowers to make them pretty, how to keep bugs away, etc.

My head's going to explode.

Even worse, the test lasts for 4 days. The first day is kitchen duty, second is cleaning, then its gardening and lastly, the hardest one, is being the master's personal servant.

The test starts tomorrow.

Finally, my feet aching from walking around on the stone floor in a pair of soft flats, Hallie brought me to another staircase leading underground, except this time it's the servant's quarters.

"This is the servants' quarters," Hallie said as if it's not obvious enough. "Male on the right, female on the left. Master Heller chooses his servants carefully so there's not many of us." She opened the door to the females' room. A bunch of other girls and women are already there, either changing or tucking themselves into bed. There are about 6 of them in all.

When the door opened, all of them looked up.

"Introduce yourself," Hallie hissed.

"Okay, er," I started nervously. I wasn't expecting this. "Hello, my name is Maria. I…" My mind blanked. _What am I supposed to say?_

"Say something!" Hallie urged me quietly. This is the first time I've seen her show any emotions.

"Um… I might not stay here for long but while I am here, I wish that we will get along well. Nice to meet you." I bowed slightly, glancing at Hallie. She nodded in satisfaction.

The other servants' expressions ranged from cold and serious to warm and welcoming. For a while, we all just froze awkwardly.

"Well?" Hallie snapped. She's obviously the head maid here. "Introduce yourselves and welcome her. I'm going to shower." With that, she left my side and went through a small wooden door which I'm guessing leads to the restroom.

The moment she went in, we unfroze. A small girl about the age of 8 with slightly wavy black hair and brown eyes scurried up to me and shook my hand vigorously.

"Hello," she said sweetly with a matching smile. "I'm Tia."

Still holding my hand, she led me to a bed. "This will be your bed. Any of your own possessions will be put under your bed." Then she scurried off again, diving into her own bed and burying herself under the blankets.

A woman about the age of 19 came up to me as I sat down on my bed. She has curly blonde hair and warm brown eyes.

"I'm Demetria Ceres," she introduced, "But call me Demi. That was Tia Hearth. She's kind of shy, you see, but dear Elodia there," she pointed at a girl about 12, a year older than me, at the bed next to mine. Elodia glared at my direction. "dared the poor child to be the first to greet you when we heard there will be a newbie joining us."

"The rules of the Heller Manor is simple," Demi said. "Wake up at 5, breakfast, do your chores, lunch at 2, dinner at 8, lights off at 10. The Heller Manor is one of the nicest places to be a servant . Lord Heller is extremely kind. I believe you'll enjoy your time here. I work in the kitchens, Tia's cleaning and gardening but she sometimes helps me in the kitchens. Hallie, the one in the restroom? She's the head maid, personal maid of Lord Heller's wife, our Mistress. Hallie is actually a nickname that she insists we call her. Her full name is Halimeda Cock. She may be slightly cold towards you at first and she's strict but after you warm up a little with her, she's actually pretty nice."

She talked so fast I had to take a minute to process the information before nodding. Then she smiled at me before retreating to her own bed.

After Demi left, another girl came up to me. I mentally groaned. When can they leave me alone and let me rest?

This time, it was girl around the age of 17. She was really pretty. So pretty its queer seeing her in a maid's uniform. She has caramel brown hair that trailed behind her as she walked, her posture straight and proud. Her eyes changed colors constantly in the light. She held out a delicate hand. "I'm Scarlette Dove," she said in a beautiful, musical voice. "I hate nicknames so don't call me anything other than Scarlette. I'm also a personal maid of our Mistress, Lady Heller." Though 'Lady Heller' sounds kind of weird, I decided not to say anything.

I just nodded. She handed me a bag which I discovered was full of clothes. "I've provided some clothes for you- your uniforms, daily attires, night clothes and other outfits needed for different activities. For example," she took out a pair of black pants and white T-shirt, along with a brown jacket and gardening gloves. "When, or if you work in the gardens, you have to wear this. Understood?"

I nodded again. She smiled. "Good," she said and looked me up and down, as if scanning me with a scanner. "You are rather pretty," she said thoughtfully. I blushed. "Healthy, strong, good body, straight posture, smooth skin," she pinched my cheeks, then yanked my hair. Ignoring my yelps of pain, she kept muttering, "Good hair quality, nice eyesight, big eyes," she took my hand and examined them. "Long fingers, strong hands." Finally, actually talking to me, she beamed and said, "With a complete make-over we can pass you as a princess, or at least a noble!"

Oh, God, if only she knew.

"What about you?" I asked.

She smiled but shook her head. "I'm flattered, Maria, but I don't really care about my own beauty. Others need it more." Then she headed back to her bed to change.

Wow, the people here really are nice. Maybe fate decided to be nice to me for once. I quickly changed into a night dress that Scarlette had put in the bag and was about to tuck myself in bed when another person came up to me.

I wanted to scream '_LEAVE ME ALONE TO REST IN PEACE, PEOPLE!_' but I just nodded at her. She was a teenage girl around the age of 16, with black hair and stormy gray eyes. The eyes were so intimidating I couldn't help but shrink back a little. For a minute, she towered over me, her scary eyes scanning me. Then, her expression softened as she smiled. Not a sweet smile like Tia or a welcoming smile like Demi or Scarlette, but a smile nonetheless.

"I'm Allison Pallas," she said, "In charge of cleaning duties and the library."

"The library?"

"Yes," she nodded. "I have memorized all the titles of the books and what they're about. Whenever our masters are doing research, they ask for me."

"Wow," I couldn't help being amazed. I remembered my library back in the Rozen Manor. It was ginormous.

"You're 11?" Allison asked me. I nodded in response. "Then you'll get along well with Elodia then." She gestured at the serious girl next to me, who's reading a book. She glanced sideways at me before returning to her book.

"She's 12," Allison added before returning to her bed.

Finally nobody's bothering me. I laid down facing the wall.

It's not lights out yet so I just laid there, staring at the wall, thinking about the test tomorrow, Favian, Mariana…

"Hey," a voice sounded behind me. I flipped around. It was Elodia, looking slightly awkward and nervous. I sat up and smiled at her. "Yes?"

"Um, I'm Elodia Hunt," she said nervously, "but you know that already. I'm the Gardener."

I nodded and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you."

For the first time, I saw that her eyes were silver, which looked slightly weird with her auburn hair. It gave her an almost foreign look.

She returned a small smile and soon, the two of us were sitting on my bed, chatting away like we've known each other for forever. I learned that she's also an orphan and has a super annoying twin brother named Andrew. He also works here as a Gardener and also in the library, though unlike Allison, or Ally as Elodia said we could call her, he didn't memorize all the books. He just organizes them.

Elodia learned about me…. Or about all the lies I told her. But Ally was right. We really did go along well.

When lights out came, we bid each other good night before tucking ourselves in.

After the lights dimmed, my mind returned to my worries in life. Favian, Mariana…

Oh, God, the test starts tomorrow.


	12. Tests and Truths

**V**

The first test is kitchen duty, which should be pretty easy. After watching Marian rush about our kitchen when I was young, I've learned to make just about anything, ranging from sweet desserts such as Mousses to main dishes such as a roast pig.

When I entered the kitchen, Demi greeted me warmly and watched me as I began to make breakfast. After Lord Heller had dined (Lady Heller had gone out) I washed the plates and proceeded to make a simple lunch. Then, dinner.

Yes, I aced the test, in case you're wondering.

That night, the other maids congratulated me about smoothly passing the first test.

Before lights out, Elodia started telling me about her brother.

"…but that's what makes him annoying," she said. She was telling me about her handsome, charming brother whose hobby is flirting with girls.

"That reminds me," I said thoughtfully, "I've never met any of the boys before. You said there were 5 of them?"

She nodded. "Don't worry. You'll meet them soon after you're done with your test."

It made me happy hearing her say '_after_ you're done with your test', not '_if_ you're done with your test'.

**o0o**

The second day, cleaning. Not too bad because Tia had already memorized all the chemicals for cleaning. I washed the laundry, swept the floor, and then mopped it. Then I scrubbed the tables and cabinets till it shone, dusted the carpets, wiped the trophies, and even went to help Allison straighten out books in the library.

That's where I met Elodia's handsome, charming, smart, talented, extremely annoying brother.

The library was, obviously, gigantic. It is a circular room with the walls covered to the ceiling with shelves of books.

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the shelves of books. The second thing was Ally sitting on one of the armchairs in the middle of the room, categorizing a bunch of books. The third thing is the boy standing on a long ladder to reach some of the higher books. He was putting the books that Allison had categorized in alphabetical order.

After putting in one stack, he slowly climbed down the ladder and collapsed on another armchair, stretching.

"God," he groaned. "Did Lord Heller just _have_ to buy so many books?"

"That's his choice, Andrew, not yours," Allison said without looking up from the book she was skimming. That's when he noticed me, still standing at the doorway.

"Hey! Come on over here!" he called to me. I came forward and carefully seated myself in one of the stools.

He looked almost nothing like Elodia, other than the shape of his face and structure. Just like Elodia, he's tall and lean, though unlike Elodia, he has blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Stiff, aren't you?" he said with an almost-blinding grin. He stuck out a hand, which I shook. "I'm Andrew Hunt, by the way. Ally told me you had already become good friends with Lodie. Or Elodia, as you guys call her. I work here, in the awesome library, and sometimes I help my sister out there in the gardens."

I nodded slowly. "I'm Maria. Today's the second day of my test."

He smiled charmingly and winked at me. "Wish you good luck!"

Though I thought I could do without the wink, I still smiled at him.

"I'm done with this stack of books," Ally announced. "You two, go organize it. Andrew, explain to Maria how to organize the books."

After he explained the long, complicated formula of organizing books, we began to dutifully put the books in the right places.

I successfully passed this test as well.

That night, as I lay in bed, I couldn't help feeling more relaxed. The momentary burden on my shoulders is becoming lighter.

Only two more days.

**o0o**

Gardening was tiring, you could say, though not as much as cleaning. Elodia watched as I mowed the grass, picked out the weeds, and watered the flowers. It sounds like only a few things but mind you, the Heller Manor's gardens are gigantic. It would take you at least ten minutes to walk from the front door of the house to the edge of the front-yard.

Imagine that.

After finishing, Elodia and I went into the woods, picking edible mushrooms and plants for the kitchen. Andrew joined us later and the three of us started chatting about our hobbies.

"Do you like hunting?" Elodia and Andrew asked me at the same time.

I shrugged. I've been hunting a few times but that's because I'm trying to survive in the woods.

Leaving the woods with basketfuls of mushroom and plants, we once again arrived at the gigantic backyard. There, cutting the bushes was a boy that seems about 16 with windswept black hair. He looked up when we emerged and I noticed he has blue-green eyes.

Putting down his gardening shears and gloves, he came forward to greet us.

"Hey, twins," he said, ruffling Elodia and Andrew's hair. Though Elodia was scowling at him for messing up her servant's braid, there was a twinkle in her eye that told me that she actually enjoys this person's presence.

He stuck out a hand to me. "I'm Austin Hali," he introduced. "I'm in charge of cleaning and gardening. Tia already told me all about you. Maria, right?"

I nodded.

"Wish you enjoy your time here!" and he jogged back to where his gloves and shears are, continuing with his work.

"People here are really nice,' I noted.

"Most of them," Andrew corrected. "Alex is kind of too strict and mean and Hallie is really scary."

"She's okay," I said. "Not too bad. Just a little strict."

Andrew winced.

"He's only scared of Hallie because he had bad memories with her in it," Elodia smirked.

"What happened?"

"Well," Elodia looked like she's trying not to laugh, "one day-"

"Lodie!" Andrew whined.

"—when we just came to the mansion not long ago-" Elodia continued, ignoring him.

"Lodie!" Andrew shouted, trying to grab her while she nimbly dodged his hands. "I promise to call you Elodia and not Lodie for the rest of the week if you stop talking!"

"—Andrew hadn't memorized all the weeds and stuff yet even though he was supposed to a long time ago and Hallie came-"

"One month!" Andrew yelled at the top of the lungs. Immediately Elodia stopped talking and smirked.

"Tell me!" I begged.

"Not yet," she said and wriggled her eyebrows at her younger brother. "Now I'm the one with blackmail material."

Andrew paled considerable.

I couldn't help but laugh at the twin's playfulness.

**o0o**

The last test and the hardest one. Yesterday Lady Heller had come back from her cousin's house. Apparently her cousin had just given birth to a baby and she went over to visit, so today, I'm taking over Scarlette's place as her personal servant. Last night, Hallie lectured me about what she would need and what I need to do. I have all the information tucked away neatly in my brain.

So this morning, I woke at 5 and quickly dressed, braiding my long hair into a servant's braid. I vaguely wondered when the last time I cut my hair was.

After preparing her breakfast, I hurried to the E wing, the Master and Mistress's personal hall, and began to prepare a warm bath for her. At 7, she woke up and bathed. After she finished, we went to her personal closet as she told me she wants to go riding today and maybe picnic outside. I helped dress her in a simple green and yellow dress that fits the mood of today's weather. Lord Heller would be leaving at around noon, before lunch, to a meeting at the heart of London.

Hearing 'London', I thought back to Mrs. Mildred which led me to Favian and then to Mariana. It took me almost all my willpower to not scream in frustration and anger at the mere thought of her. During breakfast, I stood in the shadows of the dining room, occasionally hurrying forward to collect her plates or used napkins.

Then, Lord Heller came to join her in breakfast and that's where I met the legendary Alex, who Andrew is mighty scared of.

Turns out he's okay. His full name is Alexander Jovan, and though he's only in his early 20s, his serious expression makes him seem somewhere around 30, though I didn't say that out loud.

Rule number 1 of a noble family: When meeting another of your same status, ALWAYS make a good impression of yourself. If you didn't, jump out the window.

The only thing he said to me was that he's the personal servant of Lord Heller and also the Butler.

As I examined him, I couldn't help noticing how much he looked like Austin, though he's much older. They have the same black hair and similar jaw-lines, though instead of blue-green eyes, his eyes were a striking blue.

"Are you related to Austin Hali?" I blurted out without thinking.

Too my surprise, he chuckled. "You are observant, aren't you? Yes, I'm his cousin. How the three of us ended up working in the same manor is a miracle."

"The three of you?"

"We have a younger cousin, who's also working here. I'm sure you'll meet him very soon."

"Who is he?"

"You'll know when you meet him," Alex said, smiling. "You're rather observant, after all."

At that moment Lord and Lady Heller finished dining and the two of us hurried forward to collect their plates.

Then, Lady Heller decided to go riding and picnicking so I went down to the kitchen where Demi had put together a wonderful picnic.

Though I insisted on walking, she told me to also ride a horse so I could keep up with her if she starts galloping.

As a former noble, I've taken riding classes so holding a picnic basket and handling the reins at the same time wasn't too much of a big deal.

After riding for some time, we arrived at a clearing with a small stream running through it, and Lady Heller decided to settle here for the picnic. At first, she ate in silence as I stood by her, occasionally passing her a tissue or offering another sandwich to her. Then, she dragged me down onto the blanket with her and told me to join her before she dies of boredom.

As I nibbled on a ham and cheese sandwich, she began asking me about my family, my past, etc. and I told her all the lies I told basically everybody else.

"You talk like a noble, Maria," she said.

I stiffened slightly. "Thank you, Lady Heller. After all, I had practice."

She smiled at me, a motherly smile that made me remember my mother, how she would smile like that whenever I show her one of my childish drawings…

I suddenly feel choked up and I lowered the sandwich.

"You are a wonderful child," Lady Heller said. "Really talented. But I have a feeling you're hiding something. What is your full name?"

I froze. Biting my lower lip, I murmured, "I can't tell you that, my Lady."

She gave me a long hard look. "Fine," she said. "It is, after all, rude to push. But mind you, secrets are dangerous."

Then she mounted her horse. "Let us get going back to the manor."

The rest of the ride was in awkward silence.

**o0o**

My fear of not passing the final test was in vain when I heard that I had passed and the Heller manor accepts me as a servant. I've been given the jobs of kitchen duty and gardening.

So the first day as an official servant, I hurried to the kitchen to make breakfast. When I entered, I was surprised to see a boy around 10 with salt-and-pepper curls and faded blue eyes.

When he saw me, his eyes widened in surprise. Demi suddenly appeared behind him (I haven't even noticed her in the kitchen) and pushed the boy towards me. He stumbled a few steps before freezing.

"Well?" Demi said demandingly at the young boy. "Where did all your usual chatter disappear to?"

He opened his mouth, and then closed it, blushing furiously.

"I…" he started. "My name is…" the rest of his sentence had faded into a series of inaudible mumbles.

Demi sighed in frustration before grabbing his ear and twisting it. The boy yelped in pain while I winced.

"Demi," I said cautiously because she suddenly seemed very dangerous. "He's only a boy…"

"He's only a boy," she agreed, still yanking his ear (the poor boy looked like he was about to cry), "but the only way to keep him in line is like this."

"Can you let him go though?"

She sighed. "Fine," and let the boy go, who started rubbing his sore ear.

I approached him. "What's your name?"

"Luke Deacon," he mumbled. "I'm in charge of cleaning, kitchen duty, and I'm also the Footboy."

I smiled. "Hi, I'm Maria. I'll be working here from now on." Then I started to prepare for breakfast while Luke began to cut bread. After a while, I realized he was staring at me.

"You're a really good cook," he replied at my questioning look. Then he turned red again. He must be shy like Tia.

After finishing breakfast, I decided to go to the dining room to set up the table for a simple breakfast. When I arrived, there was a boy with black hair and dark eyes wiping the table. Immediately, I knew he's the younger cousin Alex had told me about. They all have the same jaw-line, though while Alex is big and bulky, Austin is muscular and lean, the boy in front of me can only be described as skinny. He's also really pale.

"What's your name?" I asked. He jumped and looked up.

"Caleb," he said nervously.

"Caleb-what?"

"My last name's weird," he muttered.

"It's okay, I won't laugh," I said with a reassuring smile.

"Pluto," he said. "My name is Caleb Pluto. I'm in charge of cleaning."

"I'm Maria. Kitchen duty and gardening."

We nodded at each other before going back to our work.

**o0o**

A few months had passed and I had become good friends with everyone around the manor, though Luke sometimes still blushes around me. He must be really shy.

Then, there was one day when Lord Heller announced that we will be having a small party. He began to name the families that will be coming.

I didn't really pay attention until I heard a familiar name. _Rozen_.

"Wait," I interrupted Lord Heller. Yes, it was rude and I could get fired but I couldn't help it. "You invited the _Rozen_ Manor?"

"Yes," he said, looking curious. "Is something wrong?"

"You can't invite them," I said quietly.

"Why not? Did you use to work there, Maria?"

Lady Heller stepped up from behind Lord Heller. "Maria, you've been hiding something ever since you came. Tell us, what is it? We're like a family, aren't we?"

She had a point. But I could easily shatter this family, just like Mariana.

Elodia put a hand on my shoulder, her expression concerned. "Maria?"

All the other servants looked at me expectantly. Even Tia and Luke, the two younger ones, who most likely have no idea what's happening, stared at me with wide eyes.

I took a deep breath. "Fine," I said, my mouth suddenly dry. Plucking up my courage, I said, "My name is Maria Rozen."


	13. Mission

**VI**

Everyone was silent, even after I finished my life story. Most of them were gawking at me like I'm some kind of alien, Lord Heller was stroking his beard thoughtfully and the two younger ones, Luke and Tia was staring at me with innocent fascination.

Hallie was the first to speak up. "So… you're a framed murderer?"

"And you vowed to kill your older sister, Mariana?" Demi continued.

"Is Favian okay?" Luke asked, sounding worried.

I nodded. "Though I'm not too sure about Favian. I did promised to save him from that witch with a b."

"Maria!" Lady Heller scolded but was smiling slightly while the others laugh.

"So, you believe me?" I asked cautiously. They all nodded, surprising me. Wow, I must have the devil's luck, to first have my very first friend (a.k.a. Favian) believe me, then my second group of trustworthy friends.

Then, I noticed Elodia was the only one who hadn't said anything yet. I looked at her.

"So," Elodia suddenly said, "everything you told us before about yourself was a lie?" Hurt and betrayal was evident on her expression. The room fell into an awkward silence.

"Er…" I toed the carpet on the floor. "I'm sorry, Elodia, but I had to. Otherwise you guys would either try to call the police or tried to bring me back to Mariana and I can't do a lot of things when I'm dead…"

Elodia's expression softened. "It's okay. It's just…" she exchanged a look with her brother and shook her head while Andrew looked kind of sad. "It's just we hate lies. There was a lie told by some people that almost got us killed."

"Long story," Andrew added hastily before any of us could ask what happened.

Another awkward silence fell.

Then, Hallie sighed. "Well, Maria, you're looking for your friend Favian, right? Well, I have a plan." We all leaned forward with anticipation. "Let's invade the Rozen manor!"

All of groaned. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor, Hallie," Austin said weakly.

"And a terrible one too," Caleb muttered. Hallie smacked the two boys on the back of their heads.

"Wow," Elodia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I think you just gave the two already stupidest people in this house concussion. It's definitely going to benefit us greatly."

"Hey!" the two teenagers protested, rubbing the back of their heads.

The rest of them laughed. But I wasn't listening. Instead, a plan was slowly forming in my head.

"Hey, Scarlette?" I looked at the pretty 17 year old.

"Yes?"

"Remember when I just arrived, you said that if you give me a complete make-over, I could pass as a noble?"

She nodded.

I took a deep breath. "I would like a make-over please. I have a plan. I'll tell all of you guys while Scarlette is getting me ready."

**o0o**

They listened carefully to my plan while Scarlette buzzed around me; trimming and brushing my hair, filing my nails…

Elodia frowned. "Okay, Rapunzel, you're plan is-"

"Rapunzel?" I interrupted. "Since when did you start calling me that?"

Elodia pointed at me. "Since I found out your hair is so long it almost reached your knees."

I stared at her. True, my last haircut had been about 5 years ago but still…

Then, I shrugged. Whatever.

"Keep still!" Scarlette snapped.

"Anyways," I continued, "Lord Heller, would you be able to write a letter to the Rozen manor about how I'm going to visit for a few days?" He nodded and I turned to the other servants. "I'll have to bring a few servants with me. The more I bring the wealthier I would seem. So I need… two people driving my carriage, one to two personal maids, a footboy and an extra one just in case. Oh yes, and also a personal bodyguard."

"I'll drive," Alex volunteered almost immediately.

"Personal servant," Elodia called.

"Footboy, then," Andrew shrugged but I frowned at him. "Personally, I would suggest you to be the extra servant. Footboys are usually younger boys. Luke would do." The little 11 year old looked up at the sound of his name and nodded.

Andrew pouted. "Fine, I'm the extra, unneeded one." He wiped a fake tear off his cheek and sniffled.

The rest of us rolled our eyes.

"I'll be the bodyguard," Austin said, grinning. "I'll guard your beautiful face with my dashing good looks."

I rolled my eyes again. "Sure, why not?"

"I'll also drive," Caleb said quietly, raising his hand.

"And I'll also come as a personal maid," Scarlette said briskly. "Just to make sure you look your best 24/7."

I groaned.

"Lady Heller?" Scarlette was asking, "May Maria borrow a few of your smaller dresses to try on?"

Lady Heller nodded and Scarlette hurried out the office, coming back a few minutes later with a green dress with gold patterns of roses on the hems of the dress.

"Change into this," she instructed.

After I changed and walked back into the office, everybody turned to stare at me, the same way I had been staring at the mirror in the bathroom just now. Scarlette had twisted and braided my hair into a bun shaped like a rose. The dress gave my skinny body a dainty look and if I hold myself straight and proud, I really might be able to pass off as a princess.

As they stared, I toed the carpeting awkwardly with my bare feet.

"You look… nice," Caleb finally said.

Scarlette elbowed him furiously. "Nice? You call my masterpiece _nice_? She looks gorgeous! Oh, but we have to go shopping for her. Hallie? Do you have time? I have just the right dresses in mind for her…"

Hallie smiled. "Sure, let's go… when?"

"Now!" Scarlette squealed and dragged a surprised Hallie out the room.

After they left, there was another awkward silence. I realized there are quite an unusual amount of awkward silences these days.

"So…" Elodia started.

"So…" Andrew frowned.

"So…?" Austin looked thoughtful.

"So what?" Caleb asked in an annoyed voice. We all looked at him in surprise. It's unlike him to speak loudly. When he saw us looking at him, he turned red. "Well, it's just you guys keep trying to break the awkwardness and…" the rest of his sentence faded into inaudible mumbles.

"Stand up straight and speak loudly!" Demi barked. "You're no longer a child anymore, for God's sake!"

Immediately, Caleb's posture straightened and he cleared his throat. Then he looked around in confusion and resumed back to his slumping posture, turning red again.

We laughed. Typical Demi to scare a person enough to make them do something they vowed to never do.

After a few more hours of just hanging around the mansion, chatting, Hallie and Scarlette returned, holding bags and boxes filled to the brim with clothes, hats, scarves, accessories, make-up, etc.

Lord Heller then walked into the main living room, where most of us had gathered. "Maria," he said, "I've sent your sisters a letter telling how you shall be staying for a few days at their mansion. I told them you are my sister's daughter so you have to change your name."

I nodded. "Can you name me? I don't know what to call myself."

Lord Heller thought about it for some time. Then he smiled. "Desdemona."

I returned his smile. "Desdemona, the accused? Fits me."

Tia arrived in the room. After bowing slightly to Lord Heller, she asked me, looking excited. "Can you act like a super sassy girl, Maria? Because a lot of the noble girls I saw are really sassy…"

I frowned at her. "Where did you learn that word?"

"Lodie!" she answered happily.

I smiled and ruffled her hair. "I'm saving my sassiness for later, Tia. For my mission."

She nodded understandingly. "A very important mission."

I hugged her. "I'm leaving tomorrow but don't worry, I'll only be gone for a few days."

She smiled at me reassuringly. "You'll succeed Maria, don't worry!"

I smiled back even though my insides aren't feeling very well.

God, don't I wish it would be that easy?

**o0o**

The next morning, Scarlette woke me up early to prepare me for the journey to the Rozen mansion. The carriage ride should be 4 hours at most.

Once again, she twisted my hair into a rose-shaped bun but this time, she added some simple, not-too-obvious makeup.

She helped me change carefully into a black dress with red patterns and silver embroidery. Black high heels and black silk gloves were added to my costume, including a black fan that I will use to cover half of my face, just in case they recognize me.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. "I look like I'm going to a funeral."

"But black is also a formal color," Scarlette pointed out. "It shows respect."

"As if I would respect _her_," I growled. Then straightening my posture, I sighed softly. Time to become a noble again. "Scarlette," I said in a soft yet demanding voice, "Gather my other servants. I am ready for the journey."

Scarlette looked impressed but only smiled playfully and curtsied. "At once, Lady _Desdemona_."

I snapped open my fan, hiding half of my face behind it, leaving only the bridge of my nose and my eyes visible. "I shall await you at the carriage."

Scarlette bowed again and hurried out the room. I glided behind her, heading towards the carriage awaiting for me. When the two drivers saw me, they looked surprised. "Maria? Is that actually you?"

I regarded them with cold eyes. "How dare you speak to your master in such a manner. You shall regard me as 'Lady Desdemona' or 'My Lady'."

The two of them bowed their heads, though they're smirking with amusement.

After settling into the carriage, I stretched in a very un-lady like manner. Then, Scarlette, Austin, Elodia, Andrew, and Luke joined me in the carriage. Alex snapped the reins and our carriage were pulled out of the Heller mansion.

After hours of driving, we arrived at our destination. The Rozen manor.


	14. Rescue Mission

**VII**

The Rozen manor hadn't changed at all. Servants hurried out to greet us as our carriage clattered into the front yard.

I took a few deep breaths and straightened my posture. Elodia put a comforting hand on my hand. One by one, my fellow servants jumped out the carriage, Luke jumping out last and pulling out small stairs to make my descending from my carriage more graceful.

Snapping open my fan with one hand and gathering up my dress with the other, I carefully stepped out of the carriage. All the servants bowed to me as I glided past them, Austin, Andrew, Elodia, Luke, and Scarlette trailing behind me.

Alex and Caleb had gone to park the carriage and tend to the horses at the stables.

As I neared the mansion, 3 people came out of the door. There was Mari, her hair in a braid, wearing a simple day dress that indicated that she just came from the middle of a tutor session. Next to her, with a hand on Mari's shoulder, was Marian, with her shoulder-length black hair and a riding dress.

Finally, my eyes landed on the woman I hate the most: Mariana. Her light brown hair is in an elegant bun and she was wearing an elegant red dress that contrasted with her pretty blue eyes. Her skin was like milk and honey and she held herself straight and proud, just like the ruler of one of the riches families on earth. She's so perfect I want to go up to her, steal Scarlette's lipstick and write, "DIE, BITCH!" all over her perfectly smug looking, ugly, damn-to-hell face.

Luckily, I restrained myself (it was harder than it sounded) and walked up to her, holding out one of my gloved hands.

"I believe you're Mariana Rozen, Head of the Rozen family?"

She shook my hand with a smile. "That is I. And you must be Lady Desdemona Heller, niece of Lord Warren Heller?"

I nodded slightly, and then narrowed my eyes. I have to use my eyes to show my emotions since the fan is covering half of my face. "You are a perfect lady, Miss Mariana," I said coldly, "But it seems to me you and your family does not welcome me at all, or maybe perhaps it's just that you're sisters aren't as well educated. How can you greet a guest with such careless clothing?"

I felt Mariana stiffen next to me. "I am very sorry for my sisters' ignorance," she murmured. Then, she said slightly angrily at Mari and Marian, "Go change into something more proper. Mari, your lessons will be canceled for the day. After you change, I want you to show our guest around the manor. Marian, resume to your riding classes."

She turned back to me. "Before my youngest sister introduces you around the house, perhaps you would like to first see your room? Isa," she called, clapping her hands once. My former maid stepped out of the house. "Bring her to the guest room, and then show her servants the servants' quarters."

Isa bowed before turning around, gesturing at us to follow. After two flights of stairs and walking past a bunch of hallways, she arrived at the East Wing.

"You will be resting here for the time being," she said quietly, her head bowed.

"Thank you," I said before walking into the hallway, passing the bathrooms, restrooms, changing rooms, before arriving at the bedroom. I pushed open the doors to find a simple room with armchairs around one corner, a bookshelf on the side. The door to the balcony was open, letting in fresh, cool air. There was also a small table in the middle of the room, a bed not too far from it. Scarlette and Andrew dragged my suitcase into the dressing room. Yes, my suitcase, thanks to Scarlette, was so big it needed two people to _drag_ it.

I sighed and threw myself into the bed, sinking into the soft mattress.

"Well, Lady Desdemona," Elodia said in a slightly teasing voice, "that isn't very lady-like."

"You will be quiet," I tried to say in a commanding voice but the effect was lost as I giggled.

"Ma- I mean, Lady Desdemona!" Scarlette called from the dressing room. "You have to change out of your traveling clothes. You're exploring the manor later with Lady Mari, remember?"

I groaned and held out a hand. "Somebody, help me up." Austin hauled me to my feet and I trudged into the dressing room.

Seeing my slumped posture, Scarlette clicked her tongue. "You are a lady," she scolded, though sounding slightly amused, "so act like one!"

I threw my hands up in defeat. "Just pick out a dress and let me refresh my memories!"

Scarlette helped me change into a green dress with gold lining. She let my hair tumble out of its bun, curly than ever. Then, she frowned. "You're hair is too long it's gonna get in the way when you walk," so braided it before twisting it into a simple bun.

From outside, I heard knocking. Somebody opened the door.

"Is Lady Desdemona here?" the sweet voice of Mari asked Elodia, who answered, "Yes, she is changing right now. She'll be with you soon."

"Hurry," Scarlette's eyes widened. I snatched up my fan, snapped it open and left the dressing room.

When Mari saw me, she curtsied. "Show me around," I ordered.

And so my younger sister took me on a tour around the mansion I was so familiar with, refreshing my fading memories.

**o0o**

The tour was about to draw to an end, and Mari had taken me to a newer part of the mansion that must have been added while I was gone.

"You see," she said in her sweet, innocent voice, "our family had a pretty violent history and are known to often participate in wars. Here used to be the prison when we used to capture thieves."

That was incorrect. This part of the mansion is not in my memory. It's new, which means it still is a prison.

And since it's a prison, that means Favian is in there.

I'm so close to him yet I can't get to him; do you know how painful that is?

I nodded curtly and said, "I've heard." Then, after a moment's hesitation, I asked Mari, "May I go in?"

She stiffened. "I do not have the power to give you permission to enter the dungeons. Only my sister Mariana does, and she also bears the keys."

I nodded mutely and told her to continue with the tour.

Now all we have to do is to steal the key.

**o0o**

To be truthful, stealing the key was easier than I had expected. It seems like Luke have an unnaturally natural talent of picking locks and stealing stuff, so that night, after I told my friends about it, immediately Luke volunteered to steal the keys from Mariana's office.

Then, we realized we don't need to steal the keys.

Remember how Luke has a special talent (see above)? Well, we decided to just pick the lock of the dungeon door.

So that night, exactly at midnight, we-Luke, Elodia, Austin, and me- crept down the stairs, still in our pajamas (because it's lighter and easier to move in), to the dungeons.

Luke easily picked open the lock and we slipped in, the door creaking shut behind us.

The dungeons are not a pleasant place.

It's cold and dimly lit, and we have to feel for the slimy walls to not slam into something. The air is stale and smells like stale urine. Elodia gagged.

Then, she took a deep breath. And tried not to gag again.

"Okay," she said, gasping, "follow me. I have night vision."

The rest of us stared at her. "What?"

My friend shrugged. "I have an unusual talent of being able to see clearly in the dark, like a cat. Maybe it's because of my strange eye-color."

We stared at her for a while before letting her lead us around the dark dungeon.

"This place is almost completely empty," Elodia whispered. "Almost. I can sense someone in the cell at the far back."

Cautiously, we made our way there.

Hunched in the corner was a boy, his knees drawn up to his chest, his head buried in his arms.

I grabbed the bars of his cell. "Favian?"

The boy raised his head, and his eyes widened. "Maria?" he jumped up and we hugged the best we could with bars between us. "Maria! I thought you'd never come!"

I blinked back tears. "I'll always come, you just have to trust me. Sorry for taking a long time though."

We let go of each other. Favian looks terrible. His clothes are in tatters and his face pale and starved.

"What did they do to you?" I whispered, horrified.

"Nothing really," he shrugged. "Just asked me questions. Don't worry, I didn't answer anything."

Then, he noticed the other people standing behind me.

"Who are those?"

"My newest friends," I replied, smiling. "It's thanks to them that I am able to get here and find you."

At that moment, Luke stepped forward. "Favian?" he asked, his voice small.

When Favian saw him, his eyes widened. "Luke?"

I looked between them, confused. "Wait, you know each other?"

Both of them nodded. "Don't you remember my name, Maria?" Favian asked me, still staring at Luke. "My name is Favian Deacon. I'm Luke's brother."

I mouth dropped open. I can tell the people behind me are also shocked.

Then, Favian turned back to me. "Maria," he said, his voice serious, "Go back to your room right now. Something bad is going to happen."

"What-?"

"Just go!" Favian urged, then in a softer voice he said to Luke, "you too, Luke."

And so the four of us, Elodia, Austin, Luke, and me hurried back up the stairs, into my room.

And the most terrible sight greeted us.

Marian, and Mari were there, but so are Scarlette, Alex, Caleb, and Andrew.

Mari laughed coldly. She has two knives pointed at Alex and Caleb's throat and Andrew stood on the side, frozen, knowing that if he does anything, his friends would die.

Suddenly, hands grabbed me from behind and I twisted my head around to see Marian glaring at me, her dagger pointing at the small of my back.

Servants had grabbed Elodia, Andrew, Austin, and Luke. We were trapped.

"Well, well," Mariana mused. She has her gun pointed to Scarlette's head. "If it isn't our dear sister and her friends?"


	15. Decisions

**VIII**

They threw us into the dungeons with Favian.

"We'll some back," Mariana promised, her eyes gleaming cruelly. Yes, she'll come back. To torture me to death.

For a while, we sat there in silence, and then, Favian, uncomfortable with the silence said, "Well, seems like your plan didn't go as well as it should have."

The rest of us nodded.

Suddenly, Elodia stood up. "We can't just stay here," she said demandingly. "If we stay here they'll take us and, and torture us, and kill us! We have to find a way to escape."

"You think I haven't tried?" Favian grumbled. "I was stuck here for 2 months, thank you very much."

"Well maybe you just didn't have the ability to succeed!" Elodia snapped back.

"I agree with Elodia," Luke said quietly. "We can't stay here."

As the rest of them argued, I was thinking, their words coming in one ear and going out the other.

_ Escape… How to escape…_

I suddenly perked up. "Guys, grab each other's hands and form a circle!"

Favian's eyes immediately widened. "Oh…" he breathed.

Elodia, however, was clueless. She glared at me intensely. "Maria, I know we're in a gloomy situation, but playing 'Ring around the Rosie' isn't going to help us loosen the stress."

"Just do it," Favian snapped. So with confused expressions, my friends and I formed a big circle that hardly fitted in the tiny cell.

"Now what?" Elodia demanded, obviously pissed off about the fact that our plan failed.

Andrew put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down, Lodie. Maria has a plan."

"Well her first plan didn't work too well, did it?" Elodia snapped back. A tense silence fell among us. A few people peered at me to see my reaction.

I was pissed, extremely miffed, but I took a deep, stinky-and-not-so-calming breath and said, "Trust me, Elodia. I have a plan. And this plan will not fail."

Elodia just scowled. "It better not."

"Okay," I turned back to the center of the shapeless lump of people that's supposed to be a circle. "Keep your dinner in; we're leaving this place."

"We haven't eaten anything for a really long time," I heard a few people mumble before I shadow-traveled everybody away.

We arrived at the front yard of the Heller manor. Immediately, I collapsed, gasping and trying to gain back all the energy I've lost. From the corner of my eye, I saw a few people throw up from the unpleasant experience.

Slowly, painfully, the pitiful-looking group of us trudged back to the mansion, where Tia greeted us with shocked and horrified expressions.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly. Lord and Lady Heller, Hallie, Demi, and Ally all gathered around us, helping us to our rooms, passing us water.

Elodia and Andrew told them our little adventure.

"Holy Christ," muttered Demi after they finished.

Then, they noticed Favian, who was standing off by the side, looking nervous and awkward.

"Who's this?" asked Lady Heller kindly.

"I'm Favian, my Lady. Maria's friend," Favian said nervously.

"My older brother!" Luke added cheerfully. The rest of them blinked in surprise.

"That's interesting…" Ally said.

Demi, however, groaned. "You're not like you're brother, right?" she asked Favian, who looked terrified at her strict and stormy expression. "You're not a little brat, right?"

"I-I don't think so, miss," Favian squeaked. Luke and I laughed at him. Then, Demi reached over and grabbed Luke's ear, twisting it painfully. The poor boy yelped in pain while his older brother cowered away from the scary lady and hid behind my back, which didn't help much, considering the fact that he's slightly taller than me.

For a few moments, there was a happy reunion, but then, the little energy left in my body also drained away, and I blacked out.

I woke up by someone shaking my shoulders violently and shouting my name. Drowsily I opened my eyes to see Elodia, wild-eyed and a look of shock on her face.

"Maria," she shouted. "A visitor!"

"So?" I mumbled, still half asleep.

Elodia made a sound of impatience. "You have to come, Maria! The visitor is Marian!"

That woke me up. "What? What is she doing here?"

Elodia shrugged. "She's in the living room, chatting with Lord and Lady Heller. She came and asked for you A.S.A.P."

I nodded and jumped off from my bed. Somebody, presumably Madam Fatima, had loosened my bun, letting my long hair tumble all the way down to my knees, and had changed me into a soft, silky sleep gown. As I passed her bedroom door, I saw her standing by the doorway, looking at me with caring eyes. She gave a reassuring smile. I nodded back and hurried down to the living room.

Marian was there, just as Elodia said, chatting pleasantly with Lord and Lady Heller. Her waist length hair was braided down her back and she wore a boy's riding outfit. I froze at the doorway.

"Maria!" my older sister exclaimed when she saw me. She jumped up and tried to hug me, but I dodged her and ran to the other side of the room. "What are you doing here?" I asked coldly. "Is this a trick?"

Marian's expression was sad. "Maria, look, here me out-"

"Why should I?" I demanded. "You betrayed me! You-"

"I believe you!" she cut me off. Then, in a softer, quieter voice, she said, "That day, when Mariana killed Mark and Mother and Father, I saw her. I had gotten up for a cup of water and…" Marian swallowed hard. "I saw her enter Mother and Father's room with a knife and I hid and watched her as she set up the clues to point it to you. I-" her voice had dropped down to a whisper. "I saw everything, Maria. I believe you."

For a second, my heart softened, but then it hardened once more. "How do I know this isn't a trap?" I demanded.

Marian thought about it for a moment, then pulled out a small hunting knife and cut her right palm. Blood dripped from her self-made injury.

She took my hand and shook it. "I swear upon my life, my blood, my spirit, and my grave that this isn't a trap. If this is, may God strike me dead and leave my body in ashes."

She drew away and I stared down at my bloodstained hand, stained with Marian's blood.

"See?" she said. "This isn't a-"

Suddenly, a gunshot pierced through the air, cracking the window and right into Marian's temple. Marian's eyes widened for a second before crumpling to the ground.

Mariana strode into the room, smirking, with Mari trailing a few paces behind her. "Oh, this is a trap all right," she laughed. "A trap that ensnared our dear sister, Marian."

The graceful brunette strode towards Marian's corpse and kicked it violently, spraying blood onto her dress. "Traitor," she snarled before turning back to me.

"I see you've managed to escape yet again," she said calmly, with the pride and confidence of a queen. "So how about this time, we duel? Only one will get out of this alive."

The other servants had hurried into the room when they heard the gunshot and had frozen at the doorway when they saw Mariana and Marian's corpse. Now, hearing Mariana's offer, they burst out in furious protests.

"No, Maria!" Ally shouted.

Tia started to cry.

"This is a trick," Alex said. "She'll simply kill you."

"You won't have a chance," Caleb pointed out quietly. _Wow, thanks for the moral support._

"Silence," Lord Heller suddenly barked, surprising everyone. After all, he had always been gentle and caring, like a father to all of us, though obviously fathers also have scary moments. The room fell silent.

"This is Maria's choice," Lady Heller said quietly, looking like she's on the verge of tears.

I nodded my thanks at her and turned back to my older sister. "I accept your offer," I said.

"No!" screamed Elodia. The other servants echoed her, shouting out their protests. I raised a hand to silence them. "This is my decision," I said quietly. "And I will follow my choice to the very end."

I pulled out Marian's hunting knife from her cold, stiff hand.

"Let us go to the backyard," I said to Mariana. "It's wider there and safer."

Mariana smiled. "Of course." And so the two of us went outside.

At the yard, we stood 10 meters apart, our weapons ready. Mari stood on the side as the judge.

I looked down on the small hunting knife in my hand. The blade was still slightly tinged red from where Marian had cut herself. Gently, I kissed the blade and muttered a small prayer.

_'May Death be the judge of this trial,'_ I prayed_. 'For Death is fair and has no mercy, only justice. Let Death choose its victim, and let it be the one who has wronged.'_

I took a deep breath.

"Get ready!" Mari shouted. Mariana raised her loaded gun and I raised the small knife.

"Go!" I threw the knife as hard as I could and Mariana fired, the bullet slicing through the air.

Then an exploding pain erupted from my eye and I quickly began to lose consciousness.

The last thing before I blacked out was the shock on Mariana's face as my perfectly aimed knife drove into her chest.

And then, darkness.

I woke in a very white room. So white it's almost blinding. Painfully, I sat up.

Madam Fatima hurried out of her room and seeing me, let out a breath of relief and hugged me.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake!" she said, starting to sob.

I returned her hug. "I'm fine, Madam Fatima."

Madam Fatima straightened up and patted me on the head. "How do you feel?"

"Thanks to you, great," I said. "But my eyes feel kind of weird."

At that, her smile dropped. "Maria," she said quietly. "I think you should check the mirror."

Immediately, I knew that something was wrong. Hurrying into the bathroom, I peered into the mirror. And almost screamed in horror.

Mariana's bullet hadn't managed to kill me, but it had dug into my left eye and blinded it. I was lucky to even be alive. Madam Fatima must have performed a serious surgery to get the bullet out.

The damage Mariana had caused was horrifying. My eye look like it was dug out with a spoon.

I quickly rearranged my hair to cover my eye and turned away, heading back out the bathroom. I couldn't bear look at myself anymore.

When I left the small bathroom, I was greeted by Demi, Hallie, Ally, Scarlette, and Elodia. They saw my expression of utter despair, and pulled me into a hug.

"Oh, Maria," Demi cried softly, stroking my hair comfortingly. Elodia held my hand, biting her lower lip. At that moment, I couldn't control myself anymore. I broke down sobbing, years of pain, sadness, grief, and despair poured out of my only eye as tears. The rest of them knelt down beside me, murmuring comforting words but also crying silently.

"Maria," Ally said quietly. I raised my head, my single eye blurry with tears. "Maria," she repeated. "I was helping at the surgery with Madam Fatima-" I winced. "-and I knew how it would turn out like. So we made this."

She held out a small red box with a black ribbon tied around it like a Christmas present.

Gingerly, I opened it and took out an eye-patch that is the exact same color as my skin. A black rose was embroidered on it, making it look like a rose is growing out of my eye.

I swallowed. "Thank you," I whispered, my voice cracking. They just smiled and Demi helped me put it on. Somehow, I managed to hug them all at once.

At that moment, the boys came as well, including Tia. The youngest girl, Luke and Favian rushed up to me, hugging me tightly.

"Oh gods," Andrew sighed with relief. "We were so worried. You slept for a whole week straight!"

Favian nodded. "I'm officially a servant here now! Cleaning duties and kitchen. Maybe gardening if I have time."

I nodded and gave them a teary smile. "That's great. I'm so sorry for bringing so many things upon you."

They shook their heads.

"It's fine," Austin said.

"Oh yeah," Caleb piped up, "your younger sister is downstairs waiting for you. She's been waiting for a week already."

At that moment, said girl burst into the hospital wing, greatly pissing off Madam Fatima.

"The patient is still weak!" she scolded. "There are currently too many visitors at once."

Mari ignored her however and flung herself at me, hugging my waist and sobbing into my sleeping gown.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, her voice muffled by my dress. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

I patted her on the back and smiled. "It's okay. Mariana brainwashed you. It wasn't your fault."

My younger sister looked up at me with her big green eyes. "What do I do now?"

I kissed her gently on the forehead and said, "You go back home. Now you are the head of the Rozen manor. I believe you're smart enough to organize all the money. If there are problems, send a letter over. We'll help you." I brushed a tear off her cheek. "I believe in you."

She smiled at me and nodded. "I'll try my best," she said, running out. She turned back just before she disappeared down the hallway. "Remember to visit!" she called back. And then she was gone.

I collapsed onto my bed, fingering my eye-patch. Slowly, the servants trickled out, going back to their duties.

My next visitors are Lord and Lady Heller.

"So what do we do now?" they had asked me.

"Everything goes back to normal," I replied. "And let's wish it's a happily ever after."

Two months had passed since the duel, and we had a silent funeral arranged for Marian and even Mariana. After all, even though Mariana did many bad things, she was still a human being.

As I had said, life had went back to normal, except I've lost one eye and Favian's now working beside me in the Heller manor.

It was on a nice summer day did I make up my mind. Or you could say, a nice summer night.

That night was a full moon, basking the flowers in silver light. That night, I was unable to sleep, tossing and turning in my sleep, trying to make up my mind. And so I did.

I sat up, making sure everyone is asleep. Quickly, I scribbled a note, grabbed a basket, and headed towards the forest for a small walk, just like what my note said.

As I got to the edge of the forest, I turned back around and took in the sight of the magnificent manor, standing beneath the moonlight. Then, I took a deep breath and turned back to the forest, striding into the dark shadows of the trees.

I looked back one last time, peering at the mansion through layers of leaves and plants.

I couldn't help feeling a little sad, a little regretful.

Because I've made up my mind. I'm never coming back.


	16. The Second Assistant

**KeeperofMemories: HOLY SMOKE! HOW DID YOU FIGURE IT OUT? And also, this chapter explains why Maria's decided to never go back to the Heller manor.**

**IX**

After wandering around the woods, I've managed to find a shelter. Well, it's not really a shelter; it's the front porch of an abandoned little shack that had a locked door, so I couldn't live in there. The porch gives me cover at least.

Having been mushroom picking with Elodia and the others many times, I have picked up some edible plants. I also hunted with the kitchen knife that I brought with me.

It's almost like living on the streets all over again, except it's easier and I know that I'm not going to find an orphanage that will save my life. No, I'm just staying here until something manages to kill me. I have completed my goal; I don't need to live anymore.

For about the millionth time, I asked myself if I chose correctly. Staying in the Heller mansion would only bring them trouble, since I am now officially a murderer. I had killed somebody. The authorities would be chasing after me. Again.

I thought about Mari. How is she doing? Will she be able to carry the heavy burden of the Rozen fortune upon her skinny shoulders? I thought about Elodia, Andrew, Favian, Tia, and everybody else in the Heller manor. Are they worried about me? Are they angry? Have they tried to find me? Then I thought about Lord and Lady Heller. They were like parents to me; was it wise to leave them without even a proper goodbye?

They more I thought about it, the more I thought that I had chosen the wrong answer.

Before I left, I had sworn never to hurt anyone ever again. But doing this, running away, I have hurt people's feelings.

I shot up from where I was sitting. I have to go back. They'd be worried sick. I'm—

Suddenly, the doors of the abandoned little shack slammed open.

Well, not exactly slammed, but according to my imagination, it slammed open. Nobody's supposed to be in there, after all.

In reality, the lock of the door clicked and the door slowly creaked open.

Two girls about my age walked out.

One of them has wavy black hair that fell to her hips, light skin and warm brown eyes. She was laughing with the girl next to her, a girl with black hair in a braided ponytail, an eye patch over her left eye just like me, and a green eye. She looks scarily like me.

Both of them were chatting and laughing as if walking out of an empty, abandoned shack is normal. Then, they saw me, and the three of us froze.

The first girl was the first to scream, causing the second girl to scream, but for a different reason (Girl 1 screamed in her ear). They look so ridiculous I started screaming with laughter.

Then, it turned out the first girl wasn't screaming, but was squealing with happiness. She kept bouncing up and down and squealing something that sounds like "kanojoda, kanojoda!" at the other girl, who had face-palmed.

The other girl pointed at me and said something back in that strange language.

Girl 1 nodded vigorously. Girl 2 sighed while Girl 1 seem to thank her and slapped her on the back before turning back into the shack and slamming the door shut behind her. The lock clicked twice.

Girl 2 sighed and said something like, "Ma taku," to herself. Then, she turned to me and held out a pale, skinny hand.

"Hajimemashte, walehwa bala des," she said. Or something that sounds like it.

I didn't take her hand. "Umm… What?"

The girl's eyes lit up. "Damn," she muttered in perfect English. "I forgot this is _England_."

I frowned. "Problem with that?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head, her braided ponytail swishing back and forth. "It's just that I'm not from around here and English isn't my first language."

"Where are you from?" I asked, curious.

"Japan."

I was shocked. "Japan? But that's all the way across the world! How did you end up in a little shack like that?"

The girl shrugged. "Anyways, my name is Bara. Kuroi Bara."

"Hello Bella," I finally shook her hand.

"It's Bara," she said.

"Bella," I repeated, confused.

She face palmed. "Right. I forgot. In Japanese, we pronounce the 'r' as a 'l'. So technically, in English, you pronounce my name Bara, not Bala, _or_ Bella."

I nodded slowly. "That's very interesting, Bella. My name's Maria."

She face palmed again. "You're impossible," she moaned.

I smiled innocently. "I've heard."

But then, to my surprise, she started laughing. "You're just like me, Maria." She pronounced my name like Malia.

"It's Maria."

"Whatever."

And so we chatted, for the longest time I've ever chatted in probably my whole life. It was morning when she came from the shack and right now, the sun's setting.

"Shouldn't you be going back?" I asked her, gesturing at the shack.

She shook her head. "I'm on strict orders to-" she stopped before she finished the sentence. "And I'm also on strict orders not to tell you what those strict orders were."

I shrugged. "Are you sure you want to stay with me?"

"Why not? You're nice."

I hesitated before answering, "I killed someone. I killed my own sister."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you're a murderer?"

I nodded.

"Interesting."

"What?"

"I said, interesting. Tell me your story. Hell knows I need it." She leaned back against the wooden wall of the shack.

And so I told her, starting from the beginning. When I finished, we were silent for a long time.

"Interesting," she finally said.

"That's it?" I asked.

She smiled. "Listen closely, Maria." And she began telling me her story. Apparently she had killed her parents and everybody in her village at the age of 2. Then she had went to jail for 10 years. She had just escaped for a month.

"Wow," I said after she finished. "But how did you manage to kill so many people at the age of _two_?"

She smiled, a little sadly. "Look, Maria," she whispered and stood up. She let down her ponytail and combed out the braid, but while she brushed her hair with her fingers, before my very eyes, it grew longer and longer until it trailed on the ground.

"Wow," I whispered. "And Elodia call _me_ Rapunzel."

She chuckled humorlessly. "Look," she said again, and took off her eye patch.

Her eye was fine, perfect, unlike mine, except the fact that it's blood red.

Then, with a small popping noise, it exploded. I screamed, stumbling backwards but instead of brains and guts pouring out, blood gracefully (if you could call blood graceful) twisted in midair and in less than 5 seconds, a glistening, blood red rose was growing out of her eye. Bara held out one hand and a rose vine with abnormally long spikes grew out from the middle of her palm.

"Now do you see how I killed so many people at such a young age?" she asked.

I gulped and nodded.

She smiled and sat down, flipping her overly long hair over her shoulder.

"Why don't you cut your hair?" I asked.

"Why don't _you_ cut your hair?" she countered, then sighed and answered, "In ancient Japan, most woman have super long hair so they could style it and pile it on their head in some fancy hairdo. It was the same in China."

"In _ancient_ Japan?"

"Do you believe in magic, Maria?" she asked, starting to braid her hair. I hesitated, and then nodded. "I can control the shadows," I told her. "That must be magic."

Bara nodded as well. "It's cursed magic, just like mine. I could control roses _and_ death."

I gawked at her. "How can you control death?"

A dark aura surrounded her and the plants around her all died and crumbled to dust. "Like that."

"Holy smoke…" I muttered.

"Yup," she agreed, "holy smoke. Why do you say that anyways? Weird. But anyways, I was actually born about uh… in your time, two hundred years ago. In real modern time, I was born four hundred years ago."

"Modern time?"

"There are many parallel universes, each with different times and lives. Some has obvious magic like World #19376, while others are completely drained of magic, such as World #5730824. This world, #572049 seems to have a little bit of magic, mainly because of you."

"Wait, how many worlds are there?"

She shrugged. "More than I could count."

"So technically you're four hundred years old?"

She nodded.

"Now," she said, rubbing her hands together, "since I've shown you what's under my eye patch, show me yours."

I slowly took off my eye patch.

"What the freak?" she cursed when she saw my gouged out eye.

"Umm… what?"

"'Freak' is the replicate of… another word," she replied, still staring at my eye, making me extremely uncomfortable.

Finally, she averted her gaze. "The Queen said that you are one of us, one of the chosen assistants. Would you care to join and help me with all the work?"

I thought about it. "Sounds good."

She looked surprised. "You certainly are much easier to deal with than me."

"But," I raised a finger, "only on one condition."

She nodded at me to continue.

"'Bella' would officially be your English name and I can call you that."

She sighed. "Fine, whatever."

I smiled. "So… how do I become one of the assistants?"

Bella shrugged. "We have to wait for the queen."

"When is she coming?"

She thought for a moment. "Midnight."

"That's a long time away."

"Yes."

"I'm hungry."

"Me too."

"Well then," I stood up and brushed myself off. "Let's go hunting!"

She stood up as well. "Sure."

So we began to walk through the forest, listening for any sign of food.

Suddenly, however, Bella stopped.

"Freeze," she said, her voice suddenly cold. I froze.

"Weakling," she hissed in my ear. I jumped. How did she move so quickly and quietly?

"You don't deserve to live," she spat, and a sudden pain shot from my chest. I looked down to see a trail of rose vines erupting from the middle of my chest, then retreated out of my body. Black blood blossomed from the wound, like a flower dancing in the wind. The pain signals had reached my brain, and it seemed as if all the pain had gathered in my left eye, the eye Mariana had taken away with her. And then, with a small popping sound that sounded abnormally loud in my ears, my eye popped.

Favian's words repeated themselves in my head. _"…a girl with a rose as a left eye and a rose growing from her chest. Also about someone meeting a similar fate…"_

Then before my eyes—eye, I corrected myself, the blossoming blood from the wound on my chest twisted into a rose, and so did my eye.

Bella stepped in front of me, grinning. "Tricked ya!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"What did you do to me?" I stammered.

"Gave some of my powers to you. Only being able to control the shadows are kinda weak, so now you can control both shadows and roses," Bella explained. "We're almost the same. Death and Shadows are related. The only difference is," she tapped her rose, "even with my rose, I could still see, but for you, you're eye is officially blind, though I did make it prettier. When that rose withers off, or when you learned how to… un-pop your rose, your eye wouldn't look like you dug it out with a spoon, more like your wearing a black contact lens."

"What's a black contact lens?" I asked, fingering the smooth rose petals.

She waved dismissively. "You'll see. The Queen will teach you all that. I mean, I am from a time period long before you and now, I have only been an assistant for a month, and I could go somewhere and still seem like a normal girl." Then, she frowned. "As normal as a girl with abnormally long hair and an eye patch could be."

"But what about that weird thing you did… like, making your hair seem like its only waist-length?"

She leaned against a tree and crossed her arms. "The Queen will teach you that," she said. "It's simple magic. So easy I managed to master it on the first day."

I nodded. "What time is it?"

"Dinner time!" A cheerful voice suddenly sounded behind us. I spun around. Bella, however, remained leaning against a tree.

"Hello, your Majesty," she acknowledged with a small bow.

"Aloha, Bella," the girl with wavy black hair and warm brown eyes said playfully, stepping out from the shadows. The Queen.

Bella rolled her eyes.

"And you're Maria?" the Queen asked, shaking my hand vigorously.

"Y-yes, your Highness," I stammered.

"I believe you've agreed to be my assistant?" she asked her eyes hopeful. I nodded slowly.

She jumped up, pumping her fists in the air. "Yes!" then calmed down, looking sheepish.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry, I got over-excited."

Bella nodded.

The Queen clapped her hands together. "On with the ritual then!"

"What?" a bewildered me asked.

"The ritual!" she repeated.

"What?" I asked again.

"The-" she was cut off by Bella. "Oh, for the gods' sake, you'll know when it starts. Just get on with it!"

The Queen nodded, suddenly serious.

She held out a hand, a glowing ring appearing on her middle finger. I took it and kissed it gently, the way a gentleman kisses a lady's hand when they meet. Except I'm no gentleman.

A glow began to envelope the two of us.

Then, she said in the voice of a real queen, "Here, we sign a contract and you shall serve me eternally. Our souls shall connect; my life is your life, my death is your death. Serve me well, Maria Rozen, for the sake of your own life. Rise."

I rose. A charm appeared in her hands and she held it out to me. I took it. Then, she put a finger on my forehead. "I name you, Shadow Rose."

The glow faded away, leaving us in darkness- the sun has set.

With a snap of her finger, the Queen summoned small yet bright lights that bobbed around our heads, giving us perfect night vision.

"What is this?" I asked, holding up the charm, which was a black rose.

"This," Bella also held out a charm, except hers were a skull with a red rose growing out of its left eye socket, "is magical. It can become anything you want. I usually wear it as a ring." Sure enough, with a small glow, the charm had become a ring with the skull as a decoration on top. She slid it onto her middle finger.

"Useful," I said and willed it to become a pin, which I stuck into my hair to keep it up in a bun.

"Yup," Bella agreed. "And also, Shadow Rose is only a nickname, not your official name, in case you're wondering. I'm Death Rose."

I nodded.

"Well then," the Queen said cheerfully, "Let's get back to the palace!"

And so the three of us hiked back to the little shack, Bella and the Queen filling me in about the life as an assistant.

According to the Queen, it's fun. According to Bella, its _fun _(emphasize on _fun_), busy, tiring, and sometimes annoying. I think I believe Bella more.

Then, we arrived at the shack.

The Queen pulled out a key from seemingly nowhere and opened the lock with a loud _click_. Bella pulled open the door.

When I saw the inside of the little 'shack' my mouth dropped open.

"You live _here_?" I croaked. "This is even bigger than my house!"

The Queen huffed. "Of course it's bigger than your house."

"But this is crazy!" I gasped. "I could fit my house here in the… front hall?"

The Queen grinned and pulled me inside. "Welcome, Maria Rozen! You are my second assistant."

**So that's that. Maria's story is finished. Next up...**


	17. Alice

Alice

**I**

I was forgotten. Forgotten by everyone, my sisters, my Father. Forgotten by myself.

I could not remember my name or the names of anybody else. I could not remember anything from my past.

The only thing I could remember was the Alice Game, a cruel game invented by Father, a cruel fate set upon our shoulders. Us, the Rozen Maidens.

Yet other than that, so many questions remained unanswered through my mind.

Sometimes, however, there will be dreams. Dreams of my past.

* * *

_ A doll with long curly brown hair donning a green dress was pulling my hand, dragging me along. "Come on," she shouted, obviously excited._

_ "Where are we going?" I asked._

_ She winked a green eye at me. "You'll see."_

_ So I allowed this strange doll to pull me around a forest like place. _

_ Suddenly, she stopped, causing me to slam into her. The two of us stumbled a bit a before righting ourselves._

_ "Okay," the doll turned to me and I discovered that she had a green left eye and a red right eye. "I'm going to blindfold you."_

_ Very straightforward. So that's what she did. And then, carefully, we began walking again for another few minutes. The doll suddenly lifted my blindfold, causing me to squint against the bright sunlight._

_ "Ta-da!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms out wide. When my eyes adjusted, I found myself in a beautiful clearing, with a small, clear river off by on side, flowerbeds, bushes, and trees casting cool shades onto the tall grass._

_ I smiled at the doll in the green dress and she laughed._

_ "Thank you," I murmured._

_ She pulled me into a hug. "Anything for my little sister."_

* * *

_ The scene changed and the next thing I know, I was fighting a doll with long wavy white blonde hair and cruel yellow eyes. The satins of her purple and violet dress swished as she twirled and dodged, shooting me with amethysts. _

_ I was losing horribly, yet I managed to either dodge, or deflected every amethyst shot my way. However, there was one gem that I was unable to deflect and I closed my eyes, waiting for the sharp stone to take away my Rosa Mystica. _

_ The blow didn't come._

_ When I opened my eyes, the doll in the green dress- my older sister- was in front of me, with an amethyst imbedded into her chest. A small pink gem appeared from her body, and before I even came out from my shock, the doll in purple grabbed the Rosa Mystica and flew away, laughing coldly._

_ A few days later, I heard that the second doll was also killed by the doll in purple, the seventh doll._

_ That time, however, I was still grieving for the lost of my sister. I sat by her body, day and night, not sleeping nor eating, as if I, as a doll need it anyways._

_ Around me, the Alice Game raged on. The first doll, a doll dressed in white with black hair and cold blue eyes had killed the sixth doll, a cute doll dressed in pink._

_ Only four of us remain. It was less than a month since we were made and the Alice Game started._

_ Then, one day, as I sat by the side of my sister's empty shell, I made up my mind. I will have revenge for my sister. I will kill the seventh doll, even if I die while doing so. _

_ But I have a plan. _

_ The seventh doll is much more powerful than me, even when she only had one Rosa Mystica. Now, she has three, her own, the third doll's (my sister's), and the second doll's. I wouldn't be able to win if I fight with her face to face._

_ But as I said before, I have a plan._

_ That night, I crept into an abandoned church where the seventh doll lives. She was in her leather case, peacefully asleep._

_ "Lempika," I whispered and my weapon, the gardening shears, appeared in my hand. Carefully, I opened the lid of her case, and then, so quickly my limbs were a blur, I stabbed down, cutting the seventh doll neatly in half. _

_ Three Rosa Mysticas appeared and I quickly swallowed them. The warmth of the Rosa Mysticas filled my body and I smiled, feeling content and at peace for the first time in days. I feel powerful._

* * *

_ One day, I decided to take a small stroll through a garden of roses. However, when I arrived, I could hear the sound of battle raging. The fifth doll and the first doll were fighting, tying perfectly._

_ I sighed. It's supposed to be a peaceful day! But then, I remembered the warmth of the Rosa Mysticas and the pleasant feeling of stabbing somewhere through the chest of slicing someone in half, I couldn't help but want to join._

_ Not only that, the sooner I win, the sooner I'd get to meet Father. So I joined the battle, fighting with the fifth doll against the first doll. We killed her easily, and split up her two Rosa Mysticas. The fifth doll got the Rosa Mystica of the sixth doll, since she claims that the sixth doll use to be her friend, and I took the one left over._

_ "You're the fourth doll, right?" she asked after we took the Rosa Mysticas. "You're pretty powerful. How many Rosa Mysticas do you have?"_

_ I nodded, but didn't answer her second question. I was staring into the horizon, where the sun was just beginning to set._

_ "Hello?" the fifth doll, asked, sounding irritated. "Can you please answer my question? How many Rosa Mysticas do you have?"_

_ Though I know she can't see it, I grinned._

_ "Seven," I whispered, and spun around, cutting down with my gardening shears. She was sliced in half. I picked up the Rosa Mysticas that had fallen to the ground, swallowed it, and smiled, letting the warmth envelope me. Then, I began to fly back to where my case was._

_ But as I flew, a sudden feeling of weariness draped around me. Blinking sleepily and trying hard to keep myself aloft, I felt my energy draining away from me._

_ The small part of my mind that's still awake wondered frantically, '_Why is this happening? I just took 4 Rosa Mysticas!'

_ But despite that, I felt myself touchdown back onto the ground, just next to my leather case. Slumping into the box, I closed my eyes._

_ I fell asleep._


	18. Rozen Maidens

**II**

I slipped in and out of my slumber, occasionally sitting up, only half of my mind awake. All I remembered were flashes of pictures and sounds: an expression of horror as two dolls were fighting, the satisfying crack as their bodies were sliced in half. Slowly, I realized how warm I was getting, how comfortable, how alive, how _excited_. But I couldn't bring myself to fully wake up, in fear that the 21 Rosa Mysticas I had collected would destroy me inside out.

I don't know where I was, why I'm still alive, and why I'm doing all this. The only sentence echoing in my mind as I slept was, _"I want to meet Father."_

But I never did and I realized I might never will.

The first thing my mind processed was the sound of arguing. Very childish arguing too.

"But the seventh doll doesn't have a body!"

"What if Father made her one?"

"He wouldn't!"

"Guys, shouldn't you open the box first…?"

"Yes. Open the box before you decide who it may be."

There was a moment to silence, then,

"Well, isn't anyone going to open it?"

"I'm scared," the first and second voice complained. "What if the seventh doll comes out and kills us?"

"Fine." There was a small clinking sound, like a teacup being lowered onto a table. "Jun, you open it."

"Why me?" the only male voice asked, sounding annoyed.

"Because you are my servant and should obey me."

The male voice grumbled something and there was a click and a creak as light penetrated by eyelids, turning my dark, peaceful world to pink.

Somebody suddenly shrieked and my eyes snapped open in surprise.

"SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE SOUSEISEKI!" a girl in a long green dress with long curly brown hair and different colored eyes was screaming. At the same time, she was pointing a gold watering can at me.

I blinked. Where had I seen her before?

"Suiseki?" I asked cautiously, my voice slightly hoarse.

"SHE SOUNDS JUST LIKE HER TOO!" the doll screamed again.

Then, another doll wearing an elegant red dress with curly golden hair tied into pigtails and cold blue eyes approached me slowly. "What is your name?" she asked, sounding more demanding than questioning.

"I'm…" I searched my mind for a name. "Souseki," I finally settled with.

"Souseki…" the doll in red seem to ponder this for a while, and then she asked me, "What did you just call Suiseiseki?"

"Her name is Suiseiseki?" I was confused. I tried to remember the name I had called her before, but it had floated out of my reach.

"Yes," the doll said. "Anyways, my name is Shinku. Rozen Maiden, the fifth doll."

"Suiseiseki," the doll in green said. "Rozen Maiden, the third doll."

"I'm Hina!" a small doll wearing pink who I haven't noticed earlier introduced herself cheerfully. "Nice to meet you!"

"It's actually Hinaichigo," the only boy in the room said, glancing at me through a pair of glasses. "I'm Jun Sakurada, by the way."

"You're the dolls' medium," I guessed. "To support so many dolls at once… Quite impressive, really, especially for a human."

"Yeah well… What do you mean _'especially for a human'_?!"

"I think you know very well what I mean, human."

The boy mumbled, "She looks so much like Souseiseki yet her personality is so different…"

"Who is Souseiseki?" I asked.

"Who _was_," Shinku corrected while Suiseiseki started sniffling.

"She's my twin sister," the green-clad doll answered, her voice cracking. "She died. That complete bastard Suigintou killed her."

"Suigintou is the first Rozen Maiden," Jun added.

"Soon to be 'was'," Suiseiseki announced. "I'll kill her, I swear. I'll kill her."

"That's nice," I replied.

The others gave me a strange look.

"So," Shinku eyed me coldly, "you seem respectful enough. Why don't you introduce yourself like a proper lady?"

I stared at her for a moment, then bowed, sweeping my hat off my head and putting it on my chest. "I am Souseki, Rozen Maiden, the 1st Alice Game, the fourth doll."

**Yes, I know, very short. But I have a writer's block and just doesn't feel like writing these days...**


	19. Happiness and Sadness

**Sorry for not updating! I kind of had a writer's block (or, in other words, I was too lazy to write it). Anyways...**

**III**

The fourth Alice Game Rozen Maidens were more welcoming than I expected. Instead of attacking and killing me on sight, they asked me if I want to try Nori's biscuits, whoever Nori is.

The invited me to a small tea party in the backyard while Jun, the boy with glasses served us grumpily.

For the first time in my life, I was comfortable with people that weren't my older twin.

Speaking of twins, I often couldn't help staring at the doll named Suiseiseki. I just couldn't put a finger where I've seen her before and that frustrates me greatly. As for Suiseiseki, many times, she accidently calls me Souseiseki. Then when I ask who Souseiseki is, she'd start sobbing and would run out the room.

That night when I came to the Sakurada household, I met Nori, who happens to be an excellent cook and has a passion for dolls. When she first saw me, she screamed, "SOUSEISEKI, YOU CAME BACK!"

And then, she'd look embarrassed when I introduced myself as Souseki, the Fourth Doll of the First Alice Game.

I wonder why they always mistake me as Souseiseki, the fourth doll of the fourth Alice Game, and was the first to die in the Alice Game.

It was one day when Hinaichigo and Shinku was fighting over a rag doll called Kun-kun did I realize that I've never felt like this before- the feeling of friendship and safety, knowing that there will be someone there to protect you.

'What is happiness?' I wondered. Hinaichigo had often mentioned that as long as she's with Jun, Nori, Shinku, and Suiseiseki, she'd be happy. When I asked her what she meant, she just stared at me horrifically.

Then, there's sadness. The feeling that makes you cry; the expression on Suiseiseki's face whenever she sees me.

Anger, the loud outbursts Jun often has when Shinku commands him to do something.

So many nights I lay awake in my case, thinking about all the feelings and expressions the other dolls expressed, making them seem almost… human.

The Fourth Alice Game.

I knew that Father was becoming more and more skilled in every generation of Rozen Maidens he made, but I didn't realize he'd become so perfect that he's making small replicas of his own race.

One rainy day, Nori had gone to school, Jun was upstairs trying to catch up with homework, and we dolls are on the couch, watching this strange box called Kun-kun. Often times, the others would gasp in fear or shock, making me confused. What are they reacting to? Nothing was attacking them…

"Okay, I've had enough!" Suiseiseki suddenly burst out. I turned to see her glaring at me. "What the heck is wrong with you? You're always just there, completely expressionless, as if you have no emotions!"

"Suiseiseki, calm down," Shinku demanded but the third doll ignored her. "You're like a monster! Nothing seems to scare you! And you look exactly like Souseiseki, yet you never act like her! Did Fate send you here just to torture me?"

For a while, the room was weighed down by a tense silence. Then, I said quietly, "You're right. I'm a monster. A killing machine. You all talk about happiness and have so many expressions, while I have no idea what you are talking about. I have no emotions. I'm forgotten. By Father, by everyone, even myself. I'm a failure. I don't deserve to live."

The silence was deafening while the other dolls stared at me with wide eyes.

"Take my Rosa Mysticas. Kill me. Do whatever you want. Do you hate me? What is hate? I don't know, and I might never know, so why don't you just take all the little prizes I collected from the ones I've killed?"

I put a hand on my chest, and one by one, Rosa Mysticas appeared, all 21 of them, while the others gawked at me.

"You killed… 21 dolls?" Suiseiseki sound sick.

"Yes. As you said, I'm a monster. Every generation of Rozen Maidens before you. Their souls are right here."

Suddenly, Shinku grabbed a few Rosa Mysticas and stuffed it back into me. "You worked hard for it, didn't you?" she asked demandingly, while I stared up at her with wide eyes. "You were trying to become Alice. Though I'm not sure how this generations of Alice Games works but you have fought through centuries of battle. You deserve it."

"Shinku-," Suiseiseki started.

"You don't understand all the emotions we're expressing?" Shinku cut her off. "Then we'll teach you until you know."

I was speechless. "…why?"

"You asked for it," the Victorian doll replied simply before sitting down gracefully and sipped her tea.

Suiseiseki glared at me for a while before she huffed and stormed out the living room. Hinaichigo was much nicer and ran up to hug me.

"Yay! Now Hina is happy!"

I blinked. "What is 'happy'?"

"When you feel like everything is good!" Hina explained.

"When you are happy, you could smile, or laugh. It depends on how happy you are," Shinku added.

A small smile tugged on the side of my lips. "Happiness."

"Yes," Shinku nodded in approval. "Sadness is the opposite of happiness. When you are sad, there is a pain inside you that you couldn't get rid of until you are happy again."

"When will you be sad?" I wondered.

"You had a twin sister as well, right? So how did you feel when she died?"

I thought hard. "I don't know. I don't remember. There was a doll who called herself my older twin, but I can't remember her name, or how she looks like. I don't remember anything."

Shinku sighed. "This is going to be hard. We have to regain your memories and teach you learn how to feel."

"We're going to have so much fun!" Hinaichigo laughed and grabbed my hand, then dragged me upstairs to Jun's room, where we were greeted by a very grumpy Suiseiseki and Jun.

"What?" Suiseiseki snapped the moment she saw me.

"You're angry," I guessed.

Jun and Suiseiseki gave me a funny look.

"Souseki is learning!" Hinaichigo told them. And though it still makes my cheeks hurt ever so slightly, I smiled. Maybe I have hope after all.


	20. You Don't Belong

**IV**

"Anger is when you feel like something inside you is burning, making you want to scream or hit something," Shinku was explaining. "It is often connected to Hatred, which is a feeling directed towards someone that makes you want to kill that person."

I thought back to the few snippets of my memories, when the purple doll had killed my older sister, the one who looks exactly like Suiseiseki, I had felt something inside me that's urging me to kill the other doll. Now, I realize that it's anger and hatred.

"Opposite of Anger and Hatred is Patience and Love. Patience is when you are able to continue waiting without getting annoyed, which is the lesser version of Anger. Love is a warm feeling inside you towards somebody. That somebody would make you feel safe and Happy. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "Patience is also something Suiseiseki and Jun doesn't have."

Shinku smiled amusedly. "You're right. They need to work on their patience. It is crucial for you to have patience. Without patience, you could easily get hurt or do something you will regret."

I nodded again.

I'm finally starting to understand what everyone was talking about.

Happiness, the feeling of warmth, as if you're free.

Sadness, a heavy anchor in your heart that makes you want to cry.

Regret, the feeling of that you shouldn't have done something.

Pride, when you think you are better than others.

Confidence, the feeling that you are able to do anything.

Anger, when you feel out of control.

Hatred, when you feel like you have to kill the person this feeling is directed to.

Patience, the ability to continue waiting.

Love, the feeling of attraction, safety and happiness towards a certain person.

Peace, the feeling like nothing could make you react.

Excitement, when you couldn't stop moving and it's as if there's too much energy inside you.

And many more…

There are also the small branches, such as remorse, annoyance, dislike, like, etc.

Terror, fear, content, embarrassment, determination… too much for me to name.

All day long I learn and slowly, I could feel the hidden emotions rise.

When Jun face-planted onto the living room floor, tripped over by Suiseiseki, I laughed. When Hina drew a picture of everyone, one big happy family, I smiled and hugged her. When Jun forgot tea-time, I sighed. When Suiseiseki told me about Souseiseki, I felt sad with her. When Suiseiseki and Hina stole my hat, I chased after them, shouting at them to give it back.

At long last, I felt normal, or as normal as a living doll could be. Suiseiseki is also starting to become nicer, maybe because I no longer seem to be emotionless and empty.

The only problem was that I still couldn't remember anything. No matter how hard I tried, my mind turns out blank. I couldn't remember any names or appearances, just flashes of colors and occasionally an echoing, fading voice, but nothing more than that.

Shinku, Hina, Suiseiseki, and sometimes Kanaria, a doll who drops by often just for fun, often tries to help me remember, using numerous different ways. Shinku even asked Jun to search up how people tried to heal amnesic patients. None of the results worked.

Finally, they gave up.

"You still can't remember anything?" Shinku asked tiredly.

I shook my head.

"Maybe it's impossible, I guess," Kanaria suggested from where she was sprawled on the floor. "Maybe you just permanently lost it, I think."

"Possibly," sighed Suiseiseki.

"Hina is so tired~," the sixth doll said from the couch.

"You just have to let go of it," Shinku said. "You can't keep dwelling on the past if you can't remember. Just forget about it and make new memories."

"She already forgot it," Suiseiseki pointed out.

I sighed. "You guys are right. Maybe it's just impossible for me to remember. I'll just make new memories. I still have a chance. Thanks to you guys," I added, giving everyone a small smile which they all returned.

"I'm so glad I met all of you," I told them. "I don't know what I would've been if it wasn't for you guys."

"Stop talking like you're going to die!" cried Suiseiseki. "It's getting on my nerves!"

"I'm sorry."

"She's too powerful to die, I think," Kanaria grumbled. "She has thousands of Rosa Mysticas."

"21," I corrected.

"Whatever, it's still a lot."

"I'm bored," Hina complained.

"That's nice," Suiseiseki grumbled back.

"Jun!" Shinku called, "Its tea-time!"

"DAMN IT!" came the reply.

"I brought egg rolls!" Kanaria held up a lunch box proudly. "It's made by Micchan, I think!"

"I'm tired."

The others stared at me in shock. "It's in the middle of the afternoon!"

Jun appeared at the doorway. "If you're tired, then go sleep."

I nodded. "I will just rest for a little bit. See you guys later." And I went upstairs to rest in my leather case.

As usual, the soft bedding inside the case helped me relax and I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep. Blurry images of my past flashed through my mind, snippets of conversations, soothing sounds…

Then, I heard it. The only full sentences that had ever echoed in my mind. "If you feel like you don't belong, I will always be here, waiting for you, until you have decided to come. And I know you will come, sooner or later, for wherever you are, you won't belong. Nowhere, but here."

Who had said it? I wondered, but then darkness overtook me and I drifted off to my land of dreams.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

"It's been 2 hours, when is Souseki coming back?" Hina wondered worriedly.

"It's okay, she'll come down soon. She just overslept," Suiseiseki didn't sound so sure.

Shinku stood up and brushed herself off daintily. "I'll go upstairs to check on her."

"Hina will come with you!"

"I'll come as well."

So the three Rozen Maidens made their way up to Jun's room, where they were greeted by a shocking sight.

"There are only three cases…"

"This one's mine," Hina pointed at her leather case. "That's Suiseiseki's. That's Shinku's."

"Where's Souseki's?" Suiseiseki wondered.

Meanwhile, Shinku was observing the room carefully, just like Detective Kun-kun would do at a mystery case. And then, she found it. A small note where Souseki's case used to be. Shinku picked it up.

"'She didn't belong here,'" she read. "'I have chosen her. She is extremely important. Maybe in the future, I'll let her see you again.'"

"Who wrote it?" Suiseiseki asked.

"There was no signature," Shinku reread the note again. "But one thing is for certain."

Hinaichigo and Suiseiseki looked worried and sad, and Shinku knows that she must be looking the same way.

"Souseki is gone."


	21. The Third Assistant

**V**

The first thing my mind processed was the sound of arguing. Very childish arguing too.

"I never said I'd like a _doll_ for my birthday!"

"I swear I didn't buy you that doll!"

"Then why did it say that it's from you?"

"Because some idiot is trying to play a stupid trick!"

"And why would anyone do that? It's not like I'd be offended!"

"Well, you look pretty offended to me!"

"Guys, shouldn't you like… calm down?"

"I agree with Deseria. Such childish brawl should not be allowed here."

"Oh for god's sake, Adeline. Speak English. I beg you."

"As much as I like the idea of you begging me, I have to remind you that I am speaking English. It's your own fault you never went to school."

"I did!"

"Yeah, like, _once_."

"Guys, we're getting off topic. Maybe we should give this doll to Usher?"

"Dude, that's stupid. Just because his powers are puppeteer doesn't mean he'd actually like dolls and puppets!"

"Who knows?"

"Wait, if he accepts this doll, will that mean that he's gay?"

"Where the hell did you learn that word, Deseria? Where did the pure, innocent Deseria go?"

"I learned the word from _you_, stupid. What does it mean, again?"

Blearily, I cracked open an eye and sat up.

I wasn't in Jun's room as I remembered. Instead, I was in this large room with the walls painted light blue and a yellow light shaped like the sun on the ceiling. It was a really pretty room, and would've felt homey and comfortable if it wasn't for the hostility in the air.

A few feet away from me were five people, most of them arguing.

A girl with waist-length, wavy black hair and brown eyes stood on the side with her arms crossed, glaring at a tall, lean boy with messy black hair and grey eyes. Another girl with long, braided black hair and bright green eyes who looks much younger than the boy was looking up at him, confusion clearly written on her face. Another girl with wavy, white-blonde hair and cold, electric eyes stood next to a younger-looking boy with slightly long, gold-brown hair and electric blue eyes, just like the girl. Both of them had a bored and annoyed expression.

After watching them argue for a while, I asked, "Excuse me, but where am I?"

Their heads turned to me and for a moment, there was silence. Then, they screamed. Literally, all of them screamed.

The first and second girl was screaming in shock, the first boy was screaming some curses that I wish I didn't hear, the third girl was shouting in disbelief, and the last boy was shouting because of all the people that shouted into his ear.

Needless to say, it was very noisy.

When the screaming humans' breaths ran out, we just froze there, staring at each other. The first to unfreeze was the girl with black hair and brown eyes.

"Hello," she came up to me with a warm smile. "What's your name?"

"Souseki," I answered cautiously.

"And you're just… a living doll?"

"A Rozen Maiden, to be more specific."

The girl's eyes widened. "Rozen, did you say?"

I nodded wondering why she seems so shocked.

"Well," the girl with white blonde hair shrugged. "We'll just leave." She dragged the others out the room. When the door had clicked shut behind them, the girl snapped her fingers and called out, "Maria!"

A girl suddenly appeared. She has black hair that was tied into a bun, secured with a hairpin. Her bangs were parted towards the left and covered her left eye, but her right eye, the visible one was a dark green, and it was narrowed suspiciously at my direction.

"Yes, your Majesty?" Maria bowed to the other girl.

Her Majesty pointed at me. "This doll claims that she's a Rozen Maiden."

Maria's eyes (eye) widened as well. "Rozen?" For a moment, she was thoughtful. "Well… my father used to tell me about my uncle. He said that my uncle was disowned by my grandparents and left, wandering around the world. They say he became a master doll-maker and created the legendary Rozen Maidens, but…" Maria looked at me with a pained expression, as if I'm reminding her of something terrible. "I didn't realize that they might be real. In fact, I always thought the story of my uncle was all rubbish as well! Never did I thought…"

Her Majesty nodded and turned back to me. "Please come." I stood up and walked with her to the center of the room. For a moment, we stood there, her Majesty with a thoughtful expression as she looked down at me, since I only reach her knees.

"Close your eyes," she commanded, and I obeyed. I felt her warm finger on my forehead, and then there was a strange tingling feeling that shot through my whole body from where her finger touched me.

"Open your eyes," she said. When I opened them, her face was right in front of mine. Alarmed, I staggered back a few steps.

"What-?" I looked down at my hands. They didn't seem much different, except the fact that I am very far away from the floor. When I gingerly touched my cheek, instead of porcelain, I felt flesh.

"What did you do to me?" I asked her Majesty, my voice barely above a whisper.

She shrugged. "I merely turned you human. Don't worry," she added hastily when she saw my horrified expression, "I'll teach you how to turn back into a doll. And you're not fully human. You have no heartbeat or pulse, since you rely on those Rosa Mysticas to live."

"Who are you?" I narrowed my eyes at her. She smiled sweetly. "I'm the Queen," she answered, "or more specifically, the Archon. Except 'Archon' sounds too… stupid and manly, I guess you could say, so I'm just the Queen."

"You're a witch, or sorceress. You have magic," I pointed out.

"Ah… that's harder to explain, and a story for later. And I prefer a magician. It's a much nicer word." The Queen clapped her hands together. "Now, back to business. I have a question for you: Would you like to be my assistant?"

"Assistant?"

"Yes," Maria stepped up. Now, we're the same height, and felt incredibly strange to see a human at eye level, not above you. "The Assistants of the Queen are just some people who work for the Queen and run errands for her. Currently, there are only two of us: me, and-,"

"Me," a new voice sounded behind us and we spun around to find a girl with her black hair in a braided ponytail and an eye-patch over her left eye. Like Maria, her right eye was green, but unlike Maria, her features are sharper and more Asian.

"I'm Kuroi Bara," she introduced herself.

"But you could call her Bella, if you want," Maria added. Bella sighed tiredly.

"Fine, fine, whatever. So… are you the new assistant?" Bella glanced at me curiously.

"I haven't decided yet," I answered slowly.

"Come on!" Bella said dramatically, spreading her arms. "Share our burden before we crumble to dust!"

The others rolled their eyes at her drama.

"Okay…?" I furrowed my brows in confusion. "So I just… become one?"

"It's not that simple," the Queen said. "I mean, it is pretty simple, but you can't just become one."

"The contract," Maria said.

"Yup," Bella agreed.

"Right, the contract," the Queen grinned.

She held out a hand, and a glowing ring appearing on her middle finger. I took it and kissed it gently, feeling ridiculous. Usually, when a Rozen Maiden signs a contract with a human, the human is the one that kisses the ring. Now, it's flipped around.

When I kissed the ring, I suddenly felt like somebody is tying a string onto my soul and connecting it with the girl in front of me. A glow began to envelope the two of us.

Then, the Queen said, "Here, we sign a contract and you shall serve me eternally. Our souls shall connect; my life is your life, my death is your death. Serve me well, Souseki, for the sake of your own life. Rise."

I rose. Then, she put a finger on my forehead. "I name you…"

She paused. "Um… I name you… name you…"

"The Rozen Maiden is supposed to collect Rosa Mysticas by killing her sisters," Maria suddenly spoke up. "It's called the Alice Game. When a Rozen Maiden had gotten all seven of the Rosa Mysticas, she becomes Alice and is able to see Father, or my uncle. But only one of them could ever get out of this alive."

"How did you know that?" Bella asked? Maria shrugged. "It's a story my Father used to tell."

The Queen turned back to me, a triumphant smile on her lips. "It's decided then! I name you, Alice."

Slowly, the glow faded away, leaving me standing there, slightly dazed.

Maria frowned. "You didn't give her a charm, your Majesty."

The Queen nodded. "She doesn't need one. Her Rosa Mysticas are her charms."

I put a hand on my chest, feeling the faint warmth of the Rosa Mysticas.

The Queen slung an arm around my shoulders. "Welcome, Souseki" she said, grinning. "You are my third assistant!"


	22. Earth

**Earth**

**I**

I was trapped.

I was in this annoyingly blinding white room for longer than I could remember. It was the world. A world of torture, pain, and people in white coats.

They called it a lab. They called us experiments. And I was Number 233.

Every one of us was different. The boy next door, his eyes are yellow with vertical pupils. He was covered with orange and black hair and has really, really sharp nails and teeth. He also has a tail.

The girl opposite of my room had the bottom body of a donkey. Well, she used to be there; now the room is empty. I saw them carry her out a few days ago.

As for me… I was the most different from everyone else. I have brown hair that hung to my leaf green eyes and was pale, skinny, and short. When I get cut, dirt bleeds out. The scientists said that it was supposed to be blood, but I don't even know what blood is.

The scientists, as they called themselves, said that I looked the most 'normal'. After all these years, I still don't understand what they meant.

The scientists are us, the experiments' worse nightmare. Them coming up to you means two things: 1. A lot, a lot of pain, or 2. You will never be seen again.

Many other experiments had talked about another world. A better place where we could live and it's all around us. We just have to get out of the lab. Many people didn't believe those experiments, but I did. I believed that if there's a world as cruel as such, shouldn't there be a world of kindness to balance things out?

And so that's why we have decided to escape.


	23. Explosions

**II**

The escape plan was very simple. Blow up the lab, run. And everything was going smoothly until the scientists brought out the invisible-killers, or guns, as the scientists called them.

Since our cell doors could only be opened from the outside, the lucky person whose door was opened first has to act fast. Sadly, that person wasn't me, though I have to say, my door hasn't opened for quite some time already.

The person whose door opened was my neighbor, the one with orange and black fur. Immediately, he jumped out and raked his claws across the scientist's face, causing the poor guy to scream in pain, stumbling back. Mr. orange-and-black furiously began opening doors and a bunch of us burst out of our cells. I'm proud to say that I was one of them.

But then, that was when everything went wrong.

More scientists filed into the room with those invisible-killers in their hands. They fired at us, and we dodged the best we can, all the while opening more doors to let other experiments out.

Just like everyone else, I was desperately opening latches and slamming open doors when suddenly, pain exploded on my chest. I stumbled back and for a moment, the world turned black. Then, my vision returned and I looked down to see dirt trickling out of a small hole in my chest. A silver thing was caught in the current of dirt and clattered to the ground. After that thing left, the wound began to heal in front of my own eyes, dirt filling it in until it wasn't even visible.

For a moment, everyone gawked at me, and then the experiments started cheering. For what, I don't know, but I smiled back at them anyway.

"Continue firing!" a scientist shouted and loud explosions sounded. More experiments fell while others covered their sensitive ears to block the sound of death. Just like before, I wasn't harmed when I got hit by an invisible-killer but it's really hard to continue opening doors when the world constantly turned black.

What we didn't realize was how fast the invisible-killers could kill. We've only seen it at work once or twice, and that was scary enough. But now, with the scientists more furious than ever, out of 78 experiments, only 24 remained. The floor was littered with bodies and the ground was sticky with some kind of red liquid.

Our plan hadn't exactly gone the way planned, so we did the only reasonable thing at that moment. We charged.

From the corners of my vision, I saw 3 more experiments fall. I ran past the surprised scientists, who shot a few more times at me, all of them not harming me much except the fact that I slammed into a wall when the world went black once.

When more scientists arrived, we, the remaining 21 experiments scattered. Next to me was two experiments, one of them was Mr. orange-and-black. The other was a girl with greenish skin, webbed hands and feet, and a really long tongue. I was having trouble keeping in pace with both of them.

Doors flashed past, along with other hallways and corridors. We randomly took turns, losing ourselves in the maze.

At one point we ran into a room filled with glowing boxes, buttons with weird signs on them and papers filled with similar signs.

"Mrrr?" Mr. orange-and-black scratched his furry head with a paw. He turned to Ms. Green-skin. "Meow?"

Ms. Green-skin shrugged and gave a low croak. I honestly have no idea what they are talking about. Apparently they don't either, as they sent each other strange and confused looks.

Suddenly, Mr. orange-and-black's pointy ears perked up and he loud out a low growl which I guessed meant 'Scientists!'

Just as predicted, a bunch of scientists appeared at the doorway. I ran past them okay, but I didn't see the other two experiments behind me or next to me. The moment I was out the room, behind the scientists, I turned around to look, and saw the room go up in flames.

An explosion rocked the entire lab, the fire blistering my skin and singeing my hair. I scrambled away from the room and continued running, terrified. However, the fire caught up with me.

I was trapped in an empty room, my eyes watering from the smoke when another explosion shook the lab. A small crack appeared on the wall I was pressed against and desperately I clawed at it, wishing for it to open.

And then, a miracle happened.

Small ivy vines grew out from my fingertips and dug into the cracks, pushing them, making them to crack even wider. I willed it to grow faster, push harder and just as the fire scorched my back, the wall crumbled.

All I saw was a bunch of green. All I felt was something soft beneath my feet. And then the world went black. And I have a feeling that I'm not going to wake up for a really long time.


	24. The Fourth Assistant

**III**

The first thing I heard was, "HOLY CRAP!"

"Please don't swear, Bella," another voice said.

"'Crap' isn't a swear word," the first voice said.

"Actually, many people considered it as a swear word…" a third voice joined in.

Blearily, I cracked open an eye and was met by an unfamiliar scene. All around me was green and brown, with scatters of red and yellow. Looking around, I realized I was in a forest. Three people stood over me, their eyes wide.

"Are… you okay?" the third voice asked cautiously. She was a girl with wavy black hair and warm, brown eyes.

I sat up, wincing when I felt my stiff muscles stretch.

"Hey, midget, stop being a wimp and answer our questions," the first voice said. It was another girl with black hair tied up into a braided ponytail. She had an eye-patch over her left eye and her right eye was a dark green.

I just blinked up at her, because it you haven't noticed, I happen to be a test tube baby and had never been to school, which meant that at that time, I actually have no idea what they're saying, save for a few words.

"He's confused, Bella," said the second voice. Once again, it was a girl. Her black hair was tied up into a messy bun, strands falling out, and her bangs were covering her left eye. Her right eye was emerald green. In her hands she clutched a doll with short, dark brown hair and one green, one red eye. "He's also scared," she added.

"I know that," Bella sighed. "And his thoughts don't make sense. A bunch of Gibberish."

"Perhaps he doesn't understand English?" a new voice joined. After looking around a bit, I saw that it was the doll that had spoken. She smiled kindly at me and jumped out of the arms of the girl who was holding her. "Hello," she greeted me, still smiling. "What is your name?"

I opened my mouth but didn't answer her. I can't. What is a name?

"Excuse me, Souseki," the girl with kind brown eyes said. Souseki bowed and stepped back. She bent down and gently put a hand on my forehead. I flinched at her touch, even though her hand was soft. She was muttering something under her breath. When she stood up again, she exchanged glances with Bella.

"You don't have a name," Bella said disbelievingly.

Honestly, I have no idea what she was talking about at that time.

Then, she smiled. Before, Bella had only acted coldly and cruelly, reminding me scarily of the scientists back in the lab, but now, she smiled a little sadly and I could finally appreciate how pretty she actually is. "You don't have a name…" she repeated, then said in a louder and firmer voice, "Then I'll name you. After all, I was the one who found you."

The girl with brown eyes smiled. The other girl with her hair in a bun sighed. "Well, what are you going to name him?"

"Kurobara Kiko," Bella decided after a moment of thinking.

"Kiko…" The girl with her hair in a bun frowned. Then, her expression brightened. "Okay then! I'll call you Kirk!"

"Maria, that has got to be the stupidest name I've ever heard," Bella said.

Maria shrugged. "You named him Kiko. I simply found the name that sounds closest to that."

Bella sighed.

Suddenly, the brown eyed girl whose name I still don't know shouted, "I HAVE DECIDED!"

"To…" Maria gestured at her to continue. Instead of answering Maria, she bent down and asked me, "Do you want to be my fourth assistant?"

Naturally, I didn't know what she was talking about so I simply blinked at her.

Her excited expression softened a bit. "Please stand up," she told me and pulled me to my feet. She pressed her forehead against mine and started chanting in a strange language while the others watched on with confused expressions. I was alarmed, not sure what to do, so I just stood there, frozen in place.

A glow began to envelope us. Bewildered, I began to pull away, only to find myself completely frozen and unable to move a muscle. Quite suddenly, the girl pulled away. Her warm brown eyes now looks more golden than brown. She said in a commanding and serious voice, "I name you, Earth."

The glow faded and suddenly, I was able to move. I stumbled back in shock, my eyes darting all around the place.

"Wait…" Bella was staring at the girl disbelievingly. "Did you just force him to become your Assistant?"

The girl shrugged.

"Isn't that like, illegal?" Maria asked.

The girl shrugged again.

"It doesn't matter," Souseki said. "It's her choice, and we can't do anything about it. So deal with it."

The girl nodded and turned back to me. She held out a hand. When I didn't take it, she smiled and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, Kiko. We'll teach you everything. You'll be just like one of us in no time."

Though I had no idea what she was saying, her soft tone made me feel safe, a feeling I've never experienced in my life. Hesitantly, I took her hand.

Perhaps, there really is a world of kindness. Perhaps I've finally arrived in it.

The girl beamed at me. "Welcome, Kurobara Kiko," she said softly, her sweet voice echoing around us, "You are my fourth assistant."

**Personally, I think Earth's story is boring as hell, so it's like, super short. At least the next one, the last story would be more interesting...**


	25. Death Shadow

**Death Shadow**

**I**

I was supposed to be dead.

Or maybe I really am dead, only that I haven't realized it.

But since I'm thinking that I'm supposed to be dead, doesn't that mean that I should've realized that I'm actually dead?

Okay, I'm getting confused, but you could say that I'm used to the… confusedness. Life was confusing.

My first memories weren't pleasant. The very, very first one was the memory of my mom dying. Great start, no?

Well, I don't actually remember my mom dying. Just this huge BOOM! And an explosion, and I was crying but nobody seems to notice me.

That's why I think that I'm supposed to be dead.

Maybe I'm a ghost. Nobody notices me, even when I'm literally screaming next to their ears. But what confuses me is that even though I'm apparently invisible, I can't walk through walls the way ghosts are supposed to! That frustrates me greatly because I've always wondered how it feels to be able to walk through walls and stuff.

But the Fates were cruel and I can't walk through walls.

I've never met my Father. I think he abandoned me when my mom was pregnant with me, and so, at the age of three, I had become an orphan, a ghost who wanders the streets without anybody noticing. Only a few people seem to see me, and when they do, when they ask me if I'm alright, people around them looks at them weirdly. And so they would hurry away, looking embarrassed and confused, occasionally glancing back worriedly at me. But I'd always smile at them and wave back cheerfully, despite my dirty appearance.

And I can't touch humans. I go past them the way I was supposed to with walls. The only things that could both see me and touch me are those horrible, scary monsters that keep trying to eat me. Do I smell bad or something?

But anyways, even at the age of three, I had realized that the Fates won't be nice to me, and my life wasn't going to get any easier.

And true to my thoughts, it didn't.


	26. Perfect

**II**

Remember those people who could see me? As I said before, most of them are relatively nice.

Most of them.

So far I've only met nice ones, but I knew that there were mean people who could see me as well. For some reason, whenever a monster is chasing me, I would be reminded of that. The human brain is truly extraordinary.

Then, there was one day when I met a very nice person. And not only is she nice, she's pretty as well.

Her hair was brown and wavy, flowing out behind her when she walks; her eyes were the color of melted chocolate, warm, sweet, and gentle.

"Hello, there," she said, smiling kindly down at me. I smiled back at her, but my smile was strained, since I was starving and tired.

The woman furrowed her brows. "You must be starving. Come on, child, come to my home. You will be safe there. There will be a feast prepared for you." She held out a delicate hand.

The only word that had caught my attention was 'safe', which happens to be something I want. Cautiously, I took her hand. She pulled me up gently and began leading me down the street. I followed obediently. It was as if I was in a trance. It _felt _like I was in a trance: kind of like I'm in a dream.

Soon, we arrived in front of a small apartment-like building.

For a moment, the building seems to flicker and change into a completely different thing. I caught the word 'LAB' before it turned back into an apartment building.

"Welcome to my house," the woman said, and the door opened.

I never did get that feast the pretty woman had promised.

The moment I stepped into the apartment, the world went black.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

I don't know how long I slept, but judging by how stiff I was when I woke up, I guess I was unconscious for a really long time.

I woke in a strange room. Everything was made out of metal except for the bed, which was made out of wood. The bed was also the only piece of furniture in the room. There were no windows, no lights; just a wooden bed, metal walls, and a large metal door with a small slit where food could be delivered in from. It was the only source of light in this room.

Immediately, I felt like I'm in a prison.

Slowly, I began trying to stand up, but then screamed and slumped back down again when a tearing pain shot through my spine starting from my neck. Slowly, shakily, I raised a hand and began feeling around softly behind my neck. At first, I found nothing; but then, my hand touched something cold. When I felt around it cautiously, I found out that it's a round piece of metal with three small metal buttons around it on the top, bottom right, and bottom left.

So it was just a piece of metal.

Stuck in my neck.

Once again, I began attempting to sit up. This time, I was a bit more successful. I managed to sit up, but I couldn't turn my head. The pain was just too much.

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside my door. There was a series of clanking and the sound of gears turning and my door grumbled open. The pretty woman walked in.

She was still pretty, but she no longer seemed nice. Her smile was cold and cruel, just like her eyes. When she looked at me, she looked like she was looking at an animal in a cage about to be stuffed than another human being.

"I see you're awake," she said, her voice cold.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"That's none of your business, dear. Come with me." She waited for me to stand up and follow her, but I didn't. I can't. My body is too stiff. Finally, she got impatient and pulled me out of the bed. I collapsed immediately. The woman made a sound of frustration (which made me feel strangely satisfied) and continued trying to pull me to my feet. I continued collapsing, again and again.

In the end, she had to drag me all the way to whatever place she wanted to take me and I made sure that her journey wasn't easy: pulling my hand out of her hand, grabbing onto things, hooking my bare feet onto the wall where the corridor turns…

By the time we arrived at a room with a sign that's in a strange language I couldn't read, she was positively fuming, and I was grinning from ear to ear. Hadn't had such fun in a while.

However, that was just about the most fun I'm going to have for the rest of my life.

Pretty Lady literally tossed me into the room, where I bumped my head against the floor. And you should be feeling sorry for me right now because the floor was pretty damn hard.

Somebody grabbed me and set me onto a small bed. They shone flashlights into my eyes, took samples of my blood, and kept talking in this strange language that I completely don't understand.

A man who looks like he's either a doctor or a scientist asked Pretty Lady something and she replied with a single word. The only word that I understood throughout their whole conversation: Osaka. My hometown.

And then, they continued speaking gibberish…

After a while, they wheeled me into another room and began sticking tubes and wires onto my forehead, my arms, and my chest.

There were beeping sounds as they typed into this large machine. A sudden pain flared inside me, causing me to flinch and yelp but they had chained me to the sides of the bed, so I was unable to do anything.

For a moment, I wondered why they were sending pain signals or something into my body. And then, I understood.

As the pain intensified, a warm feeling began to spread in my chest, growing warmer and warmer until it was painfully hot. Then, suddenly, the ball of pain and heat dispersed and the shadows in the room began to writhe and grow.

The people around me looked around excitedly, chattering.

_ 'What the heck?'_ I thought irritably. As if matching my mood, the shadows began squirming even more. And then, they began to peel off from the walls.

Okay, I guess they didn't literally peel themselves off; they only grew and stretched to become 3-D. Needless to say, it was awesome.

But then, it became even better.

I don't know how it happened. I was simply thinking how I don't like it here and how my neck still hurts and how everything was the people in white lab coats' fault, and the shadows suddenly struck. It grabbed the wrists of a random scientist and began pulling in opposite directions.

The scientist shouted in pain while others around him began to panic. They tried to pry the shadows off his wrists and even tried to cut the shadows, but everything just went right through it.

_'Shadows are strange things,'_ I thought somewhat amusedly as I watched the scientists scurry around, _'solid, yet transparent at the same time.'_

However, even though everything was fun to watch, I began to tire. I guess controlling shadows aren't an easy feat.

The shadows began to retreat back to their corners, leaving behind a bunch of shocked and excited scientists and one traumatized scientist.

Just before I fell asleep, I heard some people arguing in Japanese, the language that I could understand:

"I think we could rank her as A, or even A+," one of them was saying.

"How about A++," another suggested.

"I think S," a third person said. "Imagine all the things we could accomplish with her powers? All our enemies won't have a chance. She only needs some guiding and nurturing and she'll become the perfect-,"

The world faded into darkness, leaving me wondering what perfect thing I'll become.


	27. Murderer

**III**

It had been almost a year since I've arrived at the lab. Almost every night, as I lay in that metal bed, I wondered about the last words of that broken off conversation, which, for some reasons, kept bothering me. I just couldn't find a word that could fit.

Oh well, that could be expected. You can't expect a four year old to have that much a wide range of vocabulary.

Then, another day at the lab, the small slit on the door opened, way past lunch time, yet before dinner, and in came a large file. I took it, and the latch slid close.

Gingerly, I opened the file, to find everything filled in that strange language that I had just managed to self-teach a little bit.

After about an hour, the Pretty Lady came in, glaring at me. I guess she hadn't forgotten my first day at the lab.

Honestly woman, forgive and forget.

Anyways, she asked me if I've read the file, and I only held it out to her. I guess she'd forgotten that I can't read.

Pursing her lips, she snatched from me and opened it.

"Did you read it?" she asked again.

"No," I answered, always truthful.

She pursed her lips again. "Of course, you can't read."

"Of course," I repeated.

Sighing, she flipped through the file and began reading it aloud. "Name: Harrison Dare. Age: 46. Gender: Ma-"

"What am I supposed to do with such useless information?" I interrupted.

Finally, she smiled, the first smile I've seen from her since about a year ago. But her smile wasn't warm or welcoming: it was cold, cruel, ruthless, the same smile that all the other scientists had worn while they were experimenting.

"Why, you kill him, of course."

And suddenly, I knew the last words of that broken off conversation.

_ 'She only needs some guiding and nurturing and she'll become the perfect killing machine.'_

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

After about a year, I had finally left the lab. But I was surrounded by two dozen guards, all wielding guns and numerous weapons. After all, I was dangerous.

The moment I stepped out the door, I laughed with joy and ran out into the sunlight, only to be snatched back immediately by a guard.

"You will finish your task and return immediately," he said gruffly. "That is your orders."

"I don't care what my orders are, let me go!" I struggled against his grip, but he held on.

Only after I stopped struggling did he drop me to the ground. Immediately, I ran off again, but at the same time, a girl appeared in front of me, causing me to slam into her.

She was older than me, though that was to me expected. She had stringy, strawberry blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been washed for weeks. Her eyes were empty, vacant, a blank green. Her cheeks were sunken, and she looked starved, but when she spoke, her voice was as clear and strong as she wasn't.

"I am here to take you to your target," she told me, and grabbed me with one hand before I could utter a word. She held out the other hand, her palm facing the group of surprised looking guards. Quite suddenly, the world around me blurred and began spinning faster and faster until everything seems white. I could hear surprised shouts from my guards.

It stopped as quickly as it began. One moment we were standing in the middle of a large, dead plain, and the other, we were squeezed together in a tiny alley.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"London," the girl answered. She pointed at the building I was pressed against. "You will find Harrison Dare there. Finish your job quickly. I am waiting for you here." She pushed me towards the wall. However, instead of slamming into the bricks, I sank into the cool embrace of the shadows.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

The darkness spat me out in the middle of a bedroom, which I guessed would've been better than the bathroom if it wasn't for the small baby resting in the crib. It saw me when I stumbled into the room, and when I fixed it with a glare, it began wailing.

Scuffling could be heard outside the bedroom and the door creaked open. A woman with dark brown hair and dark eyes peered in, then hurried to the baby, picking it up and began comforting it. When she turned, she caught sight of me, and both of us froze.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Somebody," I answered, and began bolting towards the door. Obviously, she's not Harrison Dare.

"THIEF!" the woman suddenly screamed, causing me to jump and spin around. Footsteps thundered up the stairs and down the hall towards the room I was in.

"SOMEBODY COME!" the woman screamed. "THERE'S A THIEF!"

I wasn't sure what happened next. All I knew was that I was scared, and nervous. The footsteps were drawing closer and the voices of shouting men could be heard…

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

I emerged from the shadows, gasping. The girl who had transported me here took one look at me and smiled grimly. "You look terrible," she noted.

I merely nodded, and glanced down to my shaking hands. Just like last time I checked, it was covered with blood. And not a drop of it was my blood.

I tugged on the scratchy sack bag that acts as my dress. It was ruined as well, stained with dark red.

Just before the girl transported us back to the lab, I turned and took one look back at that wooden building, and I knew that nobody will be hearing from any person in there anytime soon. After all, everyone is dead.

At the age of four, I had become a murderer.

**βοηθοί της βασίλισσας**

Over the span of 10 months, I had left the lab more times than I could count, but always, it's for the same reasons. Every time, the moment I stepped out the large metal door of the lab, I knew for certain, at least one person will be sacrificed to Death this time.

But that time, I didn't know that what I was doing was wrong. All I know is that when I finish the messy job and returns obediently to the lab, I will get a prize. Sometimes it was snacks, cakes, candies, and chocolates. Other times it was toys, dolls, et cetera. But every time there will be something to reward my sinful work. Every time I looked down at my bloodied hands, I would smile satisfyingly. Unbeknownst to me, the outside world had begun to call me 'the Phantom'.

Then one day, I was in a very bad mood when they slid in the file containing information about my next victim, and for some reasons, I decided that I've had enough. I'm sick of traveling all around the place and running errands for the people that tortured me.

And so I made a plan. A very simple plan. Simple enough for me to finish the job in less than two minutes and I couldn't help wondering why I haven't thought of it before.

After all, I've already killed enough people. A few more wouldn't hurt; there's not much difference.

The only difference is that this time, the people I'm killing will be those who pretends to protect me: my guards.


	28. Firestorm

**IV**

May 12th, 1939. A file slid soundlessly into my prison, now littered and piled with various sorts of toys and garbage. I grabbed the file, flipping it open carelessly. Over the two years, I've taught myself that strange language.

"Name: Olivia Ainsley. Age: 19. Gender: Female…" I read aloud to myself. For a long while, I stared at the picture of a beautiful woman with brown skin and dark hair and eyes. There's something unsettling about her eyes, like she had been tortured before and had turned slightly insane. I shuddered slightly.

At that moment, Pretty Lady, her heels clicking along the white tiled hallways, stopped at my room and knocked on my door curtly. "Ready?" she called.

I didn't answer: just took my place in front of the bolted metal door as she unlocked it. Just like numerous times before, I followed her as she stalked on proudly, leading me down the path that's already seared into my mind. Very soon, we've arrived at the front door, where my usual escort of guards and the teleportation girl waited for me.

"Let's go," I said, stepping forward and was whisked away into somewhere in the world.

We arrived in a small alley. Again.

"Where are we?" I asked, just like every other time.

"Boston," she answered simply, just like every other time.

Then, unlike every other time, instead of going somewhere to quickly finish my job, I turned to my guards and the Teleporter, all of them looking at me, slightly surprised.

I raised my hand, palm facing them.

For a moment, nothing happened.

And then, the shadows lashed out, and before it even seemed to have started, it ended.

Since I was in the middle of the crowd of guards, I was soon drenched in red, and stumbling through the masses of corpses, I trudged out of the alley.

I wish I hadn't.

The moment I stepped out of the alley, exhausted to the core of my bones, drenched in blood, I blacked out. The last thing I saw was a hand that grabbed me and somebody whispered, "I'm sorry," before I fell into darkness once more.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

When I woke, everything was dark and for a scary moment, I thought that I had gone blind. Then, my eyes adjusted and I found myself in a dark room. I sat up slowly, wincing at the pounding in my head, and found a tall woman standing at the foot of my bed.

She was also very pretty, but unlike the Pretty Lady back at the lab, her beauty was more foreign and soft. She had curly white-blonde hair that's cropped and jagged at the ends and was tied into a high ponytail. Her eyes were a dark brown, contrasting with her light hair and pale skin, and it was flecked with light blue that seems to glow in the dark.

Her dark red lips curved into a small smile when she saw me wake.

"Where am I?" I asked her groggily.

Her smile stretched wider and grew colder, and suddenly, her beauty was no longer soft. "Welcome," she whispered, her voice like the winter wind, "to Firestorm."

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

I followed the new Pretty Lady down the dark halls dimly lit by small, flickering lights, finally stopping in front of a large wooden door. I couldn't help but think how ironic it is.

When I was three I was kidnapped by a nice, pretty lady who turned out to be not so nice but still very pretty. She had taken me down a long hall and into a room. Now, I've met another pretty lady who I'm not sure if she's nice or not, she had led me down a long hallway, and now we're standing in front of another room. I wonder if this is another lab.

Pretty Lady #2 knocked on the wooden door twice before stepping back and waiting.

"Come in," a smooth voice called from inside.

She opened the door slowly and gestured at me to go in, pushing me gently when I didn't budge. Finally, after taking a deep breath, I stepped in.

The room was very simple, with an air of elegance. It was plain, it was warm, it was nice, and it was very, very red.

Some soft red thing covered the floor, making it rather bouncy, but it felt nice under my bare feet. The walls and ceiling were red as well, along with the rows of bookshelves that lined the walls and the large wooden desk in the middle of the room. A chair of red leather sat behind the desk, the back facing us.

"Mrs. Scorch," Pretty Lady #2 said quietly, bowing her head even though I'm sure that this 'Mrs. Scorch' isn't able to see us. "I have brought her."

"Thank you Vena," the smooth voice said from behind the leather chair. Vena bowed and backed out of the room, leaving me surrounded by the color of blood.

"What is your name?" asked Mrs. Scorch, spinning around her chair to face me. She has dark red hair that blended in with the rest of the background, her skin was pale, and her eyes were a bright, cold blue, like the sky of a sunny day in the coldest time of winter.

I shrugged.

"Age?"

I held up five fingers.

"Verbal answers please."

"I'm five," I pouted at her.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"Nope."

"Vena told me that she had sighted you killing a bunch of armed people in armor. Care to explain that?" Mrs. Scorch narrowed her eyes at me.

"I was doing it in self defense," I lied. "They were trying to kill me."

"And why would they do that?"

"Heaven knows why."

"How did you learn to fight like that?"

"Hell taught me."

To my surprise, Mrs. Scorch laughed, her laugh high and cold, piercing through the air like an arrow. "You have a sharp tongue for such a young age."

"You have a sharp laugh for somebody _your_ age." I heard a gasp outside the door and guessed that Vena had heard that. I mentally grinned.

Mrs. Scorch smiled, once again to my surprise. "Wish you enjoy your time here, my dear. Vena," she called, the door creaked open and Vena stepped in, "bring her to the training area."

As Vena led me away, just as the door was about to swing shut behind us, Mrs. Scorch called after us, "Oh, and welcome to Firestorm."

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

The training area is basically a gigantic room with a fighting ring in the middle and all kinds of weapons, ranging from an old-fashioned samurai sword to the most modern pistol hanging on the wall on one side and scattered around on the floor. Battered sandbags hung from the ceiling, along with other things.

I gawked in shock, amazement and awe as two women sparred at one side, tying perfectly. A bulky, muscular man pulverized one of the sandbags. Another tall man was running and shooting targets at the same time with a bow and arrow. He hit every target with perfect accuracy.

"What…" I was lost for words.

"This is the Firestorm training area," Vena stated the obvious. "In Firestorm, we trade drugs and weapons, et cetera, but we need defense as well. In Firestorm, we will train you to become skilled fighters, professional assassins."

"There's not a lot of people," I noted.

"No," Vena admitted. "Firestorm was made not a decade ago. We are the first generation of Firestorm recruits. But this is actually only a very small part of the whole group. There are approximately 100 to 200 people in Firestorm; miniscule compared to most of the other organizations."

I nodded slowly.

"V!" the tall man with the bow and arrows were the first to notice us. "Hey, s'that the new un'?" he asked as he strolled towards us. Quite suddenly, he shot an arrow towards Vena. With lightning speed, she dodged it, slid a knife from her sleeve and cut it in half in midair. I stared in awe.

"Tim," she acknowledged.

"Timmy," he corrected."

"Fine, Timothy."

"Don't call me that!" Tim, or Timmy, or Timothy, whatever his name is, scowled at her. "You sound like my mother when she's mad at me!"

Vena just rolled her eyes, then turned to me. "This guy here who looks old but is actually only 17 is called Timothy, but we call him Timmy or Tim. He prefers Timmy, for some reasons, but I think it makes him sound girly."

Ignoring Timmy's protests, Vena continued, "The two women fighting are Thea and Leiandra. Fat guy there is Nigel." At that moment, two other people appeared at the doorway behind us. One was a man, the other a familiar looking woman, and to be truthful, I could barely believe that either of them are actually assassins, just like Vena. They were too good looking, too perfect. Vena glared at them as they stalked past, not even sparing us a glance. The tension in the room grew. "And that," she growled quietly, "was Frederick Windsor and Olivia Ainsley."


	29. Training

**V**

Frederick Windsor and Olivia Ainsley were known to be very close, always watching each other's backs. They were one of the best fighters in Firestorm, and Mrs. Scorch was very fond of them. They were her very precious pawns.

Windsor and Ainsley were also known to be the cruelest people ever. They have no mercy, holds no hesitation… they basically have no heart.

The moment I saw them, I immediately disliked them, one of the reasons being that Vena doesn't seem to like them very much. So I mirrored Vena's glare and stared at their backs as hostilely as I could, which wasn't very hostile, considering I was short, skinny, and five.

Being small is a pain.

As if feeling our stares, Ainsley stopped abruptly and turned around slowly. Her dark gold eyes were wide and slightly maniacal and her red lips were curved into a sadistic smile that stretched wider when she saw Vena.

"Jaeger," she nodded, ignoring Vena's glare. Then, she caught sight of me. "Oh? What is this that you have with you, V?"

Vena's glare intensified and she grounded out, "This is the new recruit. I'm showing her around."

"Ah, Vena," Ainsley laughed in mock delight, "how kind of you! Always caring for the newbies…"

I could now literally feel Vena's anger radiating off her, and I was pretty scared at that time. The people here are all pretty scary.

"Well, somebody should," she managed to say without bursting.

Ainsley cocked her head to one side, and ignoring Vena, turned to me, whose glare faltered, taking an uneasy step back to hide a little behind Vena's tall form.

When Ainsley saw that, she threw her head back and laughed. That evil woman. When she finished cackling, she looked back down at me, that creepy smile still on her face.

She kneeled down so she's about my height. "I've heard about you," she whispered, as if telling a secret. I personally wondered if she still has her sanity. Anybody with me? "They said that you killed a dozen soldiers by yourself with bare hands. Is that true?"

I didn't answer.

"A little child like you…" she mused. "How did you do that?"

I still didn't say anything.

"Do show me!" Ainsley stood up suddenly, her insane grin growing even more maniacal. "Join me in the ring!"

It was at that moment did I notice that the training room had gone deadly silent, and nobody was moving a muscle- nobody except for Oliver Ainsley, who was moving towards the fighting ring in the center and Frederick Windsor, who, with a proud smirk, settled outside the ring to watch the upcoming show. It was only then did I feel Vena's fingers digging into my bony shoulder, her hand trembling slightly with barely suppressed rage.

"Don't go," she muttered, her voice so soft I could barely hear her. "Ignore her challenge. She'll kill you."

I didn't doubt that one bit, but I shrugged her hand off nonetheless, ignoring the pounding of my heart. "Even if she kills me, I have nothing to lose, right?" I gave her a small smile and made my way slowly towards the ring.

As I was walking, I reassured myself slightly: I still have my powers. The pills are in my pocket. I can survive… maybe.

I wasn't doing a very good job in reassuring myself, apparently.

When I clambered clumsily into the ring, Ainsley barely gave me time to get ready before she attacked. I was only able to command the closest shadows_, 'Come,'_ before a fist slammed into my face, causing me to stagger backwards. Ainsley's movements were so fast I could barely see them, but I managed to dodge her foot, aimed towards my head, then with a flick of my wrist, a small patch of shadow shot towards her like a knife. She dodged it, however, and the knife barely managed to graze her cheek.

She grinned. "Not bad, dear. Where did you get that dagger?"

But before I could answer, she punched me in the stomach, and with a spinning kick, knocked me to the side. I was gasping for breath, and I could feel blood trickling from my nose, but I stood up, despite the spinning of my head.

I'll survive this. I have to. I can't die yet… I could. But I wouldn't.

But I was completely hopeless against a full-grown Firestorm assassin. She slammed me from one side of the ring to another, and beat and battered me with no mercy at all until I was barely conscious.

I only remembered somebody shouting, "Stop it, Ainsley!" before the world turned completely dark.

And it was then did I realize: I wouldn't mind dying.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

The first thing I felt was pain and that was what dragged me back to consciousness. My whole body felt like it was on fire, and I couldn't move at all.

"You're awake," a soft voice said as I forced my eyes to open. The lights were blinding. "Why didn't you listen to me and not go?" the voice continued. "You were half dead when I managed to stop the fight. Half of your ribs were broken, along with your collarbone, arm, and nose. You literally look like a bloody pulp."

"Vena…?" I choked out, wincing at the terrible condition of my voice.

"Don't worry," Vena said. "I'm here. As soon as you're ready, I'll begin training you. Don't worry."

The one word that registered was _training_. Almost immediately, I sat up, then yelped in pain and fell back down onto the hard bed again.

Vena made a _tsk_ing sound. "Your ribs are broken."

"Okay," I managed to reply before with my left hand- the one that wasn't broken- pushed myself back into sitting position. "I'm ready. Let's begin training."

Vena was staring at me incredulously. "Pardon?"

"Training," I repeated, and slowly, painfully, crawled out of bed and began stumbling towards the door. When I was outside, I looked around confusedly and shouted over my shoulder. "Where was the training room again?"

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

And so I trained. The basics of Firestorm's training system were like this: You train, and become pro.

There's no specific training system because Firestorm was too new, too underdeveloped.

I began training with my left hand, because my right was broken. My ribs were slightly in the way, but I managed. It wasn't too bad I guess.

Time passed quickly while I trained, and soon, my casts were off and I was working with my right hand as well. Vena and I couldn't figure out if I'm right-handed or left, so we trained with both. Timmy, being left-handed, helped me train was well, teaching me how to shoot. Nigel gave tips in hand-to-hand combat, while Thea and Leiandra helped teach me how to spar.

As for Vena, she's all about reflex, speed, and flexibility, so she began teaching me gymnastics the moment my casts were off.

As time passed, Firestorm began to grow and develop as well. There were more recruits now, and with the newbies came a training schedule, and more rules, though not all of them good.

Before, I had always stolen stale food from the kitchen, my usual share often not filling me at all. Now, if you were caught, the punishment iss a whipping. Causing havoc wasn't allowed either, especially in the sleeping quarters, mess hall, and well, basically everywhere except for the training room.

We began to have separate classes such as hand-to-hand combat, endurance, flexibility, and language courses. Over the span of two years, I was forced to learn Chinese along with a bunch of its dialects, German, Italian, French and Canadian French, Spanish, and English, because I wasn't exactly fluent after trying to teach myself back in the lab.

My head's about to burst.

And so, after two years, now seven, I plopped down onto Vena's bed, spinning a dagger in my hand and smiled grimly up at the older woman who was like a sister to me. "I think it's time."

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

I was confident, but still nervous. After all, my first, terribly humiliating beating left a traumatizing imprint in my mind. It had been two years since I've last seen Olivia Ainsley, but from what I've heard, she would be coming back tomorrow for a short visit. And when she comes back, I will challenge her for a rematch.

The whole time before she came back I was jumpy, nervous, and during training I pushed myself more than ever.

I can win this. I have to.

The door of the training room slammed open.

The first thing I saw was the white blonde head of Frederick Winsor, his gray eyes piercing. Then, following closely behind him, was the beautiful Olivia Ainsley, her dark chocolate brown hair up in a loose bun, her caramel colored skin smooth and flawless.

The moment she entered the room, our gazes locked, and as if reading my mind, she nodded and began heading towards the ring in the middle of the fighting ring.

Windsor looked confused and grabbed her arm, asking her what she's doing. She gestured simply at me before gracefully entering the ring. I, acting clumsy and stupid, clambered in behind her. Behind me, I heard Windsor mutter, "She's so going to lose. Nobody had won Olivia just yet."

I clenched my jaw. I'll show him.

Just like last time, Ainsley gave me barely any time to get ready before she attacked.

Her movements were fluid, even swifter than last time, but she wasn't the only one who had grown. A quick look by the tensing and relaxing of her muscles, and I realized that she was getting ready to aim a punch towards my head, followed very possibly by a spinning kick. A small glint told me that there was a knife hidden in her sleeve, and possibly more strapped to her thigh and hips.

Well guess what Ainsley? I've got more.

Okay, no I don't.

But I've found something out about shadows: shadow-travel. And I've practiced it by myself until I was completely skilled with it. Not only that, I could transport stuff using the shadows, and make stuff using it as well. More specifically weapons.

And so as her punch came, I dodged, crouching down and sweeped out my leg, trying to unbalance her. She leapt back, her knife coming out, and she charged me. I blocked her with a small dagger that was originally hanging from a hook on the other side of the room, then successfully kicked her in the stomach.

She stumbled back a step and bared her teeth at me. "I see that you've grown, dear," she growled before attacking again.

And so, we continued to spar.

To be truthful, I was beginning to panic, because at this rate, I was going to lose. I was much younger than Ainsley, so I had less strength and was tiring much faster. Gods, I was stupid to even try challenging her. She's going to kill me this time for sure.

There was a sudden pain and my knife skittered out of my hand, out of the ring. Ainsley smiled triumphantly, and raised her hand for the death blow, but I wasn't about to let that happen. When the knife began to fall, I summoned the shadows, and shadow-traveled to the other side of the ring. Ainsley cut only air, and she spun around, looking both shocked and angry finding me so far out of her reach.

"How can you move so fast?" she asked through clenched teeth. I could tell she was beginning to grow frustrated: we had been fighting for quite a long time already.

Instead of answering her, I pointed a knife at her, trying to hide my panting. "_Attack._"

The shadows lashed out, shooting towards Ainsley, who desperately began to block, parry and dodge all the 'daggers'. She looked shocked, but then recovered and grounded out, "How…?" Ainsley shook her head as if ridding her head of a thought. "You were taught by such a useless," she suddenly charged, a sword appearing in her hand, "weak," I parried her, not sure where she was going, "completely hopeless fighter! Jaeger," my hand tightened around the hilt of my knife at the mention of Vena, "was always," she swiped towards my stomach but I leapt back with a back-flip, "at the bottom of the class!" she leapt back as well, panting with frustration, exhaustion, and anger. I wasn't much better. I could barely stand by now and my arm was sore, not to mention all the cuts and bruises all over my body.

Ainsley charged again, her foot lashing out first this time, then followed by her sword. "I've beaten Jaeger so many times," my right hand was clenched into a fist and I bared my teeth, "she was so useless, so stupid, so…"

I couldn't listen anymore. "Don't," I growled, "you dare insult Vena!" My vision was tinted red, and my hands were trembling with anger. Vena was always so kind, so caring... she sang me back to sleep when I got nightmares, she shared her helping of food with me when my own didn't fill me, she cared for me the way nobody had. So if Ainsley were going to insult her…

I growled, an alien, animalistic sound, no trace of human in it, and I felt something in me snap. Waves of raw power and pressure rolled off me, pushing Ainsley down to the ground. The shadows wrapped around me, their cooling presence as reassuring as always.

"Stand up," I snapped at the brown-skinned woman. She climbed slowly to her feet, her expression filled with shock, anger, and hatred. This time, I was the one who charged.

Ainsley parried easily, despite her panting and obvious exhaustion, but before she could throw out an attack of her own, I disappeared and reappeared behind her. She was barely able to block me before I was gone again. Ainsley was bewildered. She frantically looked around the ring, searching for any signs of me. It was only her quick reaction that saved her. But not for long.

I continued zipping around the ring, slashing, stabbing, until Ainsley was covered with cuts. Finally, I walked out of the shadow. She had lost her sword, and was barely able to stand, since I had slashed her legs many times, but she propped herself the best she could nonetheless to glare at me.

I took her sword and pointed it at her. "I'm the Phantom," I said quietly, "and no one could kill the Phantom. Especially not a petty human like you." Then, I stabbed her through the stomach. And with all my strength, I pulled the sword upwards, cutting her upper body in half.

Her guts spilled out onto the floor and her blood splattered onto me as exhaustion began to catch up.

For a long while, I just stared at Ainsley's corpse, along with everyone else. Then a slow clapping jerked me out of my slight daze.

I turned to see Lyra Scorch standing at the doorway of the training room, a cold, cruel smile on her beautiful face.

"Nicely done, Phantom," she said softly, her voice even more dangerous than her smile. "Nicely done."

I smiled back, a triumphant, slightly maniacal grin, and at that moment, I felt a small part of my soul flutter out of my reach.


	30. August 10th, 1941

**VI**

_Extract from the Diary of Vena Jaeger-_

**August 10th, 1941**

When I first saw her, she was covered in blood. Behind her lay a dozen bodies, gutted gruesomely. Her short, unkempt black hair was tinged red, and her clothes were completely ruined. In her eyes was a familiar gleam- a gleam of insanity and pleasure in killing. The same gleam as Olivia Ainsley.

But it was strange. There were no weapons anywhere.

And so I brought her to Firestorm.

Now, I don't actually hate Firestorm. Sure, it's cruel, and harsh, but when you get used to it, it's like a second home. And it wasn't like my first home was there anymore- My mother was a Jew. I'm basically one hundred percent positive that the Nazis had captured her and sent her into one of those Death Camps they had built. And my Father might have followed her.

If Firestorm hadn't taken me, I would've been in one of them Death Camps as well.

At Firestorm, she didn't look uncomfortable like I did the first time. In fact, she had seemed… amused. Like there was something extremely ironic about this place. She had no manners, yet was somehow respectful at the same time. She ate as much as a full-grown man and often times I had to share some food with her to prevent her from passing out from hunger.

In other words, she reminds me purely of Lena.

I should hate her, for reminding me of my dead sister, but instead, it only made me care for her more.

She's just a sweet little nameless girl.

Time passed, and I began to love her as a sister as well. I cared to her and she cared for me.

But even though we were so close, I still didn't know her name.

There was this one day when she was six when she asked me, "What if we were actually sisters, Vena, but we never knew?"

I had laughed, telling her that that's impossible, because we were polar opposites. I was like a bright beacon at night: with white-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, inheriting my Father; while she was the night itself: black hair, black eyes.

Later, I regretted bringing her to Firestorm. It only began to destroy her.

She has wonderful talent, and it was always fun instructing her. Everybody liked her for her nice, cheerful, and gentle personality, but she was only a child- she will change, and not for good either, especially since she's growing up in a not very healthy environment.

And so she grew and rose.

First she beat Leiandra in a quick duel. Then beat both Leiandra and Thea in a two against one fight. Nigel couldn't land a single punch on her because she's too fast (and well, also because he's too soft-hearted, though you can't really tell by looking at his appearance. I mean, I sympathize. It's very hard to punch a sweet, cute little devil in the face).She defeated Timmy in an Archery and Knife-throwing contest.

But she would never fight me.

Whenever I even suggest it, she would either refuse, or pretend she hasn't heard me and change the topic.

She was also smart. She gave suggestions to Lyra Scorch, _Lyra Scorch _herself, about how Firestorm could be improved. You can never tell which side she is on because she is so unpredictable. Often, she looked like she hated Firestorm, maybe almost as much as me, but other times, she cared for it like it was her child. She would walk through the underground Academy, looking like she's strolling through a park, and when she passes others, she would greet them cheerfully. Then, when somebody was causing havoc or something, she would always somehow be the first to arrive at the site and break the problem up.

She was nice, sweet, and gentle… until she changed.

It was when she was seven, still very young, but had already been in Firestorm for two years.

Olivia Ainsley and Frederick Windsor were out in a mission, as they usually are, and are coming back very soon. When she told me that she thinks it's time I almost had a heart attack. But I didn't answer. I wish I had, to stop her from fading.

At first I thought she would lose, and for some reasons, it relieved me. It made me feel guilty, but I couldn't help it. I had a bad feeling, I always had. Even though she was like a sister, there was a strange aura around her. Dangerous, like the aura of a monster.

As they fought and more injuries appeared, the dread in my stomach began to grow.

And it completely numbed me, overflowing through me as the monster before me tore Ainsley, the legendary assassin apart with a single stroke of blade.

It was her first kill, and yet she had never hesitated like I did.

And what horrified me even more was how she had smiled afterwards, and how her eyes had gleamed, like she enjoyed it. It horrified me at how much she looked like Ainsley, the woman she killed.

It was obvious that she was the next right-hand killer of Lyra Scorch.

And now, she was no longer nameless.

She was the Phantom.


	31. April 17th, 1944

**VII**

_Extract from the Diary of Vena Jaeger_

**I never remember the date and nobody would tell me. I think they're playing a prank on me**

I just knew that the moment the Phantom arrived, things are just going to get worse and worse. The word 'Phantom' simply spells trouble now.

After Olivia Ainsley was killed, Frederick's hatred for the Phantom became even more obvious, if that was even possible.

As predicted, Phantom took Ainsley's place as Scorch's right hand assassin, so she's often away. She changed as well, began growing maturely more quickly than she's supposed to. She's barely even 9 yet, but I bet she's mentally about the same age as me. Sometimes, you could see the old her, when she's laughing and joking around with the others, but it's happening less and less.

She had always been pretty, even at a young age, and I knew she would grow more beautiful through the years, with her perfect complexion, petite structure, large eyes, high cheekbones, and small mouth. Her eyes, dark though they were, had always been sparkling, her red lips tilted into a small smile. She was the sweetest child.

But when the Phantom came…

She was still beautiful, but the eyes began to lose their sparkle, but they didn't become sadder either. It just became more… vacant, as if she was slowly being hollowed out. Her bright smiles no longer lit the dark halls of the Firestorm Academy, and her laughs no longer echoed through it.

I dread the day the sparkle will forever be lost, and the Phantom takes over her completely.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

_Extract from the Diary of Vena Jaeger_

**April 17th, 1944**

If I remember correctly, about a year ago I had written about the Phantom slowly losing her soul, or something of the sort.

I dreaded the day she will forever vanish into the darkness of the Phantom.

But I fear it is very, very soon.

Just a few days back, she asked me a question: "How do you smile, Vena?"

I was surprised, you see. It was so sudden. But she gave me no chance to speak as she continued, "How is it, that in such a dark place, you are still able to smile?"

I was speechless. Less than a year ago, she had been the one lighting the halls with her optimism. It definitely wasn't me. And yet she had asked me that, she pale face emotionless, her voice monotone, as it had been since a month ago. She, a mere girl of 9 (almost 10, her birthday's coming up), looked up at me with blank, black eyes, no light in them, not even a spark.

It was the eyes of someone who had already died, the eyes of someone who has lost all hope.

I think she had lost her ability to smile: the blood on her hands prevented it. She used to carve a line on the wall next to her bed for every life she took, but she had stopped a long time ago, at the number of 85.

There was one night when she suddenly sat up, at the dead of the night. In her thin nightgown she slipped out, but the door had waked me up. I followed her to the training room, where she began beating the worn punching bag.

Her movements were as fluid as ever, if not more in the night. Her eyes were wide, her limbs a blur of movement, and on her lips was a small smile.

She enjoyed it: killing.

It was then did I realize that she really was gone, replaced by the Phantom; the Phantom that doesn't know who I am, or Timmy, or Leiandra, Thea, and Nigel. The Phantom that doesn't know that she had a life before Firestorm; the Phantom that doesn't know anything.

I hated the Phantom.

Then the impossible happened. The Phantom didn't do anything- just stood there, looking at the punching bag that was swinging violently on the rusting chain, but somehow, it crashed to the ground.

The chain had broken and the punching bag fell, and as it fell, something ripped it into pieces.

I was speechless.

And when the Phantom turned her emotionless, pure black eyes towards me, two glowing red rings appearing around her pupil, I did the only thing I could: I ran.

For she wasn't human; she was anything but human.

A ghost, a spirit, a _god_…

_A monster._


	32. Hating the Silence

**VIII**

_Most of us die young, either from being arrested and executed, accidents on missions or quests, or we were simply disposed of after losing our uses._

_ That was the old days of Firestorm._

_ Since the day I was announced as the _Phantom _at the age of seven, things started slipping from me. _

_ At first, it was worry, annoyance, and anger, which I thought as a blessing, but slowly the hope and happiness drained from my soul as well, leaving me empty and blank._

_ Before, there were always voices, whispering at me about situations inside me, my feelings. But now, all that was left of the voices were silence._

_ Vena tried to teach me how to smile, yet I've lost the ability. _I've lost something again.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

_Silence. _

_ I was silent. _

_ I already knew this would be my last mission. Somehow, I knew I couldn't do it, couldn't succeed. Somehow, I already knew I would fail._

_ I knew, as I always knew, this was the end. _But not for the one that will stand before me in the future. This time, the end was for me.

I didn't know how I knew, maybe it's the sinking of my stomach when Scorch told me the name and address, or maybe when I was strapping on the weapons, and they felt heavier than before. Maybe it was when I left the Academy, and Vena wasn't next to me to see me off.

Maybe it was the silence of the Academy at the dead of the night.

But I knew I'd fail, and there were no other roads to that, so I, for once, stopped struggling against fate, and failed.

I walked through the roads, dressed in a simple white dress, and pink petticoat that Scorch had insisted on. I was barefooted, as I always was.

Grass crunched beneath my feet as I made my way towards the large house in the close distance. The walls were white, the roof blue, gray in the night. All lights were off, all curtains closed, and everything was silent.

I hated the silence.

Hatred, one of the only spirits left in the Pandora's Box that was my heart.

I walked up to the house, stopping in front of the locked door. But simply by putting a finger over the keyhole and manipulating the shadows all around the me, the door swung open, revealing a hallway with wooden floorboards, lined with doors, all of them a different color.

I glided in, the shadows blanketing my feet and lifting me slightly above the ground so none of the old floorboards creaked.

Scorch said my target was an old man who was quite rich and powerful. He certainly didn't seem so, but I wasn't about to question Scorch.

Fear, another leftover spirit, for better or for worse.

I closed my eyes and allowed my other senses to seep through the house, washing over it, covering it, until I was the house itself. I could hear the chatter of rats beneath the floor, the breeze whispering past me outside. A single red leaf dropped onto the roof, and the small beam of moonlight that shone through the tiny attic window, quietly kicked up dust from the floor. A tap was leaking in the kitchen, its water a slow, rhythmic beat, and following the gentle beat was the soft snoring of an old man's restful yet restless sleep, the bed springs creaking as he shifted in the last room at my right.

I opened my eyes, a gentle smile on my lips that have begun to be stained red with all the blood that had soaked into my skin. My skin itself refuses to grow darker, so the color was all pushed into two places: mostly my lips, but a little into my eyes.

Two small, glowing red rings appeared in the darkness, glistening with blood. A silent patch of shadow glided to the end of the hall, and slowly opened the door on the right.

With a long creak, it swung open, and I stepped into it, no longer caring about staying silent, as my prey was right before me. I was about to take another step when something caught my eye.

At first, all I saw was red, reflected from the monster hidden beneath my skin, revealed only through my eyes. Then, ignoring my reflection, I adjusted to the darkness and was able to make out the black and white picture of somebody I knew. Somebody I remembered, however vague the memory was.

There was a woman holding a beaming child, an older man standing next to her, a hand on her shoulder.

The man was obviously the old man that lay in the bed of the very room I was currently in, and he was obviously the woman's father. But the similarities in their features were quite slight. The old man was foreign- American, I would guess, but the woman looked more on the Asian side, with only a small touch of foreignness in her features.

Her long dark hair, the same as her young daughter's, swayed gracefully in the wind, her dark eyes bright with joy, a gentle, innocent joy not unlike a child's, not unlike her daughter's.

She wore no makeup, but she was beautiful, and slim, though not very tall, barely above her father's hunched, tired shoulders.

A bright smile lit up her dark features, just like her daughter. One finger pointed towards the camera, and I could remember her voice telling me, _"Look, my child, look!"_

And I looked. And the man had looked so strange with that large black thing covering his eyes, showing only his large nose and mouth and strange mustache. It was so strange, and I began laughing.

Then when Mother heard me giggling, she smiled as well, for I was a child of little expressions.

After the picture was taken, we had sent Grandfather away on a boat to a faraway place. _"To a better place,"_ Mother had told me. And I had wondered why we couldn't go as well. As if reading my mind, she told me that we couldn't go. Not yet. I was too young, and could not bode well with water. I remember trying to reach for the salty seas, but Mother had dragged me away.

After that, we began to go home, Mother humming a small lullaby to me.

_'Have you ever heard the dancing nymphs,_

_Or festivals by the sea?_

_Or listened to the frolicking dryads,_

_Or the spirits in the trees?_

_Have you ever felt the huge stone statues,_

_And seemed to feel them beat?_

_Or dipped your fingers in cool water,_

_And felt the living heat?'_

I could still remember the rest of the song; it had been the song that sang me to sleep every night when I was little, but that time, that was all she sang before she died. I couldn't remember how she died though: all I remember was fire, and something was burning, and then I was a ghost, something nobody could see.

The monster inside me began to calm, curl, and sleep.

An unconscious tear slid down my cheek as my heart ached, ached for the Mother I never had, the family I never had, everything that had been displayed before me, then taken away before I could have a chance to appreciate it, swiped out from right under my nose.

At that moment, there was a loud creak as the old man behind me sat up on his bed, and in his groggy, ragged voice, asked, slightly panicked, "Who is it?"

I turned slowly, the tear still clinging on my cheek, another grasping onto the ends of my dark lashes.

The old man's eyes widened when he saw me, and his lips moved. No sound came out, but I knew what he wanted to say: "You look so much like her."

I turned slowly towards my prey, my victim, my future kill, my Grandfather.

The silence was deafening, and I knew, I have failed.

**Please Review!**


	33. Silence

**IX**

The old man- my Grandfather, I reminded myself, held a stick-thin arm out to me, beckoning me forward. I complied, stopping before him, remaining impassive and unmoved as he gripped my just-as-skinny arms with hard, bony fingers, pulling me closer to see me more clearly.

"Is that really you?" he asked weakly, his voice hoarse. I nodded somewhat stiffly.

Grandfather had tears in his eyes. "You look so much like Rinna, so much like your mother. So pretty and elegant and proud. I've always thought you were dead. Rumors had told me your mother and you were killed when your house exploded. I can't believe…" he trailed off, unable to say anywhere, settling with just staring at me in amazement.

I opened my mouth, but not knowing what to say, closed it again.

But as I looked down at his lined, wrinkled face, marred by old age, a warm feeling began to develop in my chest. It wasn't happiness, it was something like… a comfort. A comfort of the fact that I still have family members alive. I still have a family. Yes, a broken and threadbare one, but it's a family nonetheless.

"Grandfather…" I managed to choke out the unfamiliar word. It was foreign on my tongue, but before I could say anything else, Grandfather had pulled me into a tight hug. His bony arms were surprisingly strong as he held onto me. Slowly, as steadily as I could, I sat down on the edge of the bed.

Grandfather held me out at an arm's distance, smiling widely, like he was the luckiest man on earth, with a tattered house, very few years left of life, and a living granddaughter.

"You've grown so much," he whispered, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. "I remember when you were a baby, so small I could hold you in one hand!" he chuckled, and I forced a smile onto my face. It felt alien and fake, and my cheek muscles hurts from the movement. "Do you remember what your mother used to call you? _Nicky, my little ghost princess_!"

I felt a pang of something indescribable in my chest, because I remembered. I remember that I hated it…

"You hated it so much!" Grandfather laughed. "Threw a tantrum every time she called you that!"

I nodded, the fake smile still present, my cheek muscles aching.

Grandfather's voice softened. "We debated so much over what to call you. Months, from the moment Rinna found out she was pregnant. We had a list of names so long when I held it over my head, it trailed to the floor!" He ran a hand through my wavy black hair fondly. "It was only after you were born did we decide to call you-,"

My name was on his lips, but I couldn't hear him. Not when such a familiar sound filled the air: the sound of a gunshot.

Everything happened too fast, so fast I didn't even have the time to react before blood blossomed from Grandfather's temple and he fell forward onto the bed, colliding into me, his old bones creaking, his lips still moving in silent words, still whispering my name, the name I had stopped using such a long time ago, a name I almost forgot.

I froze there, my mind not yet catching up with the situation. Even after it did, I remained unmoving, impassive, expressionless, emotionless.

There was a click- the sound of a gun loading.

And then I moved.

I was in front of Timmy before he could even blink. His trembling hand wielding the gun, was still pointing towards where I was just a second ago. His eyes widened when he saw me.

Me, a young girl barely 12 years of age. Me, a young girl whose height barely reached the middle of his chest. Me, the Phantom, with an army of shadows behind me.

_ 'Traitor'_ was the word that hung unspoken between us.

Timmy was trembling violently, and there were tears in his eyes. Though he was much, much taller than me, it felt like I was looking down at him. I did not pull my weapons.

"Should I," I asked him, my voice a deadly whisper, "or should I not?"

"Phantom," he pleaded. "Phantom, I'm sorry. I really, really am. Scorch forced me."

I did not say anything, but I could feel the beast inside me stir and wake, roaring silently. Two glowing red rings appeared around my pupil. Timmy trembled even more.

I pointed a pale finger towards him, a cold smile curling my lips. _"Off with his head."_

My command echoed through the clearing and into the forest, despite the fact that I was whispering.

Timmy, with a trembling hand, raised his loaded gun to his head, pressing the muzzle to his left temple. He had no choice. For my command was absolute.

"Any last words?" I asked quietly.

"Please-," he started, but I waved it away.

"Execute."

And he fired the gun.

He fell to his knees, tears falling from his wide, frightened, blank eyes, before slumping to the ground.

From the shadows of the forest, figures emerged, all of them armed, all of them ready to kill, some of them filled with bloodlust, some of them reluctant.

Kicking Timmy's lifeless body to the side, I pulled out a sword.

And then they charged.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

I danced through the crowd, slicing through the bodies as if they were butter and bread. I was blood-soaked, and the blood was still warm. I moved swiftly, quickly, like a hunting cat, a soaring bird. I controlled the shadows with my will of a monster, and I was the shadows- invisible, quick, dark, cold.

I was the ghost princess. I am the Phantom.

I did not look as I killed- I did not need to. Half of my enemies were untrained imbeciles, unworthy of my gaze.

I was a blur of darkness, blades, shadows, and death, my eyes a trail of red as I moved with the speed of the wind.

Everybody was the same for me, even though as I cut through body after body, I recognized a few faces: Thea, Leiandra, Nigel… Brian, the teenage boy I had taught for about a week, Kayla, the girl whom I have shared my ration of food with, Johnson, a boy even younger than me who was so sweet and cute…

Blood filled the air, its metallic scent and taste filling my senses. The bodies were still warm, though unmoving.

I continued to slice through my enemies, blood dripping from my blade and being forced into someone else's veins. I moved almost robotically, the same thing over and over again: dodge, kill, parry, turn, dodge, kill, parry, turn…

And then something went wrong.

To be more exact, something _felt_ wrong. Very wrong.

The angle of my blade felt wrong, the feeling of sinking my sword into somebody's gut felt wrong, the blood that sprayed into the air smelled wrong, and when I turned to look, I knew that everything had gone done the drain.

There was nothing left.

Vena remained standing, though she was hunched over, a hand over the injury in her abdomen, blood quickly spreading through her blue shirt and dripping through her fingers. Her white-blonde curls were tinted red from the spray of her own blood, and the light was quickly fading from her bright blue eyes.

Time stopped.

Neither of us said anything.

A small smile graced Vena's lips, a gentle, soft quirk of lips. I remained impassive, but my chest began to ache all the more, even worse than when I saw that picture of my mother.

Vena held out a pale hand, her bloodstained fingers brushing my cheeks, leaving a dusting of crimson. Then finally, she spoke. "I forgive you," was all she said.

Vena Jaeger fell to the ground, joining the mass of bodies that already littered the grassy clearing, the grass dyed red.

I had not moved an inch through everything, but when I finally did, it was to feel the after-warmth of Vena's cold fingers.

The pain was beginning to grow unbearable, but I stood up anyway, shouldering the weight of the sky proudly, ignoring the pressure on my spine which threatened to snap under the pressure. I cannot show weakness- not now. Especially not now.

But it still hurts.

It didn't matter.

Once again, I raised my sword, and I charged. I will not lose this battle.

For I am the Phantom.

And you can't kill something that's already dead.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

_ But everything was still silent. Even with the battle raging on around me; even with the teams being Firestorm verses me. 200 people, _sent to kill me_. 80 dead, _killed by me.

_ I will not lose._

My arms ached, but I pushed away my exhaustion, and continued to fight.

_I am the Phantom._

As I sliced through body after body, I thought about everything. About myself, how I was broken beyond repair. About Mother, how I'm never going to see her, even in death. About Vena, who saved my life, but died at my hands.

My very own hands.

I stopped for a second, glancing down at my bloodstained hands. Blood mist clouded my vision, but I could still see them, tainted black, my soul, tainted with sin. Painted black by sin.

I didn't notice at first, until I lowered my hands to my sides, continuing to stare at the blood-soaked ground.

Metal glinted in my peripheral vision.

And then the pain hit me like a hurricane. I gritted my teeth and blindly searched for the source of the pain until I looked down and saw the golden sword protruding from my stomach.

I turned my head slightly to see that git, Frederick Windsor, smiling at me triumphantly, and the last thing I saw was Windsor pulling the sword upwards, slicing my upper body in half. Then, darkness.

I died like Olivia Ainsley, in shame, in defeat, blood all around me, guts strewn over the ground.

It was silent, and for the first time ever, I was glad for the silence.


	34. In Death

**X**

I've always wondered how it's like to die. From the stories Vena told me, there're heaven and hell, for the good and evil. I believed that I would be going to hell, where I will suffer and burn.

That was not what happened.

When I opened my eyes once again, I was in a large lobby crammed with people. Or, in other words, spirits. I wore the clothes I had worn to my last mission: a petite white dress with the blue ribbon around my waist, and the small pink petticoat. Patting around my clothes, I realized that all my weapons had disappeared, except for a single dime hidden in the petticoat's pocket. Vena had gave it to me after her short trip to America and I had kept it with me ever since.

A man stood behind the counter, reading a book with an impassive expression.

I walked up to him and asked, "What do we do here?"

The man looked up. "Do you have money? If you do, I'll send you over the river."

I held out the dime. "Is this okay?"

"That's too little." He frowned at the coin.

"Fine." I closed my fingers around the dime and then eyed the door behind him. He had mentioned a river, but I see no river. Perhaps…

Placing my hands on the counter, I leapt up and over it, aiming a kick at the man's head. He dodged with skill, but I changed course quickly and caught him in the shoulder. I landed gracefully and bolted for the door, throwing it open to be met by darkness.

When my eyes adjusted, I saw the river: a churning, disgusting, polluted strip of water. Across it, far away downstream, was a lot of other spirits. It's where I needed to go.

But it was wide, too wide, and the current too fast for me to swim. As I neared it, I could hear whispers, beckoning me towards them, pleading, taunting…

The man appeared behind me, and I grabbed a broken glass bottle from the littered beach, pointing it at his throat. "If you don't take me across," I whispered, "I will make sure you never enter that lobby again."

The man only looked amused."That's not very nice, you know," he threw a smile at me, which I ignored. Then, his smile dropped. "I doubt you'd succeed either. But either way, I'm guessing you're not going to take a 'no' for an answer, so very well," I lowered the glass bottle ever so slightly, "get on the boat."

He snapped his fingers, and a boat appeared at the shore, secured by a short chain, bobbing along with the violent current.

I kept the bottle with me as I leapt onto the boat, just in case.

The man followed me, and he began to row. As the boat moved gradually forward, slow against the current, a cloak appeared around his shoulders, his suit merging into a large black robe, and his face shriveled into a skull. He looked better that way.

"How old are you?" he spoke suddenly.

"Twelve," my answer was curt.

"That's pretty young to die, isn't it? I'd expect the death rate of young children to decrease since the War ended." The skull did not smile, but there was a hint of it in his voice.

"The War ended a year ago," I answered. "1945. I did not die because of the War."

"Then how?"

I did not answer.

After waiting for some time, the skull sighed, and we continued our journey in silence.

We arrived quickly, and I got off, not looking back as I joined the line of spirits. Before me stood a tall woman with curly dark hair. Her features were prominent, sharp, and she looked forward with bored brown eyes and a pursed mouth. _Leiandra._

I didn't bat an eye at the discovery.

The line continued to move, slowly, step by step.

I allowed my mind to wander, along with my eyes. Faraway, I could see the dark silhouette of a large beast, mutated, strange, unidentifiable. There were two other lines next to ours, one shorter, but moving just as slow, and the other moving almost three times as fast, also being longer than ours. I ignored it and continued to look forward, trying to ignore the strange pang in my heart as I looked at Leiandra's blank expression.

She never looked back.

I was so close to the front of the line that I managed to peek through the tall bodies of others in front of me to see where I was heading to.

There was a platform. On the platform were three cloaked figures sitting behind a long table stacked with papers. A spirit stood before them, trembling slightly. From what, I don't know.

After some unheard words were exchanged, the three figures pointed at a direction, in which the spirit headed towards. They threw some papers into the misty air, and it disintegrated, disappearing into the dark, sandy ground, smooth of any footprints. Another spirit headed onto the platform. More muttered words, another simple pointing of fingers, this time in another direction, and a third spirit replaced the former one. The judges of death.

I could not see their faces underneath the shadows of their hoods, but their slightly transparent hands and feet indicated that they were just as dead as the rest of us. But they were special, that's all.

I watched as Leiandra stepped onto the platform, her expression still passive.

"Leiandra Angler," the figure in the middle spoke up. His voice was deep, commanding. "Sister of Thea Angler?"

"That's me," Leiandra's voice was as blank as her face.

Words, now inaudible, were spoken, just like every other trial before. Then Leiandra was pointed towards a direction, the same as the first one I witnessed, and she left.

It's my turn now.

Slowly, I stepped onto the platform, which had been tall enough to reach my waist. The Underworld was suddenly silent, void of all the chattering that had been present moments ago. It must be the works of the judges.

My trial began.

I confirmed my identity, just as everyone else had done, but this time, instead of speaking, the judges pointed immediately. "Accept your punishment, witch," the figure in the middle said.

I did not protest. I knew there was no need to. They were right. I was a witch, a monster. I could've gone directly to hell and nobody would've objected. Nobody would've noticed.

But the place where I arrived was not hell. It did not fit Vena's description of hell. I see little fire and bugs. Screams echoed through the clearing, cries of outrage and despair, blood was splattered onto the ground, but I see little fire, and barely any bugs. This was not hell.

But at the same time, it was.

An unseen thing took me by my arm, its nails digging into my skin. It dragged me towards a table and chair, where a piece of paper and pen was waiting. The invisible force left, and slowly, I sat down, picked up the pen, and pressed its tip onto the paper.

I didn't know what I was supposed to do. Write? Draw? What else could you do with a paper and pen? Decorated Origami? The tip of the pen left the paper, then pressed back down, and this time, I began to draw.

Blood red, a simple line, curled, elegant, like Vena's _'l'_s. Leaves unfurled, and new vines began to grow, flowers popping and wilting. Swirling plants, patterned leaves, flowering buds, blooming blossoms, rotting beauties. They dominated the paper, glowing blood red with the unending fountain of ink in the pen. Glowing red with the blood drawn from my skin as it broke with the strokes of the pen and crimson flowed.

Black and red dots blotted my vision with pain, but I continued to draw, paper painted with blood, dress stained. Then when the paper was filled, when the cuts healed, leaving thin, silvery marks, too light to be seen, to bright to be ignored, I dropped the pen. It landed on the ground, black sand thrown up from its weight.

Then I fell backwards in the chair and fell asleep.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

It became a routine of drawing, falling asleep, then waking again to continue to write. Every time my eyes opened again, the paper before me was blank. I would start all over, the same drawing over and over again, carving it into my flesh over and over again. Each time I draw, a different part of me was cut open. The pain was unbearable, but I gritted my teeth against it, my gums aching, my jaw stiff.

Then when the scars reached my back, I suddenly remembered. A little tune, a little lullaby that haunted me, even in death.

_'Have you ever heard the dancing nymphs,_

_Or festivals by the sea?_

_Or listened to the frolicking dryads,_

_Or the spirits in the trees?_

_Have you ever felt the huge stone statues,_

_And seemed to feel them beat?_

_Or dipped your fingers in cool water,_

_And felt the living heat?_

_Have you ever held a fallen feather,_

_Then slowly feel it stir,_

_Or held a branch of olive leaves,_

_That helped you fight and endure?_

_Have you ever lain in a pool of water,_

_And seemed to breathe fresh air?_

_Or seen a flash of a golden trident,_

_A storm howling here and there?_

_Have you ever looked up at the lightning,_

_Thundering down with bolts_

_Or felt the power of unknown beings,_

_Sending secret jolts?_

And so I carved the words into my back, so it would sink into my soul, so I would never forget it, never forget the last words Mother had whispered into my ear.

A habit, a pattern, flowers, vines, leaves, and deaths, until the crimson sank through the paper and into my soul, forever permanent, forever visible. Vines circled my eyes, fingers, and lips, flowers at its tips. Leaves decorated my brow, death bloomed at my feet. Rotting flowers dropped petals onto my skin, whispering in pain, smoothening the scars.

A masterpiece.

A routine.

And unbeknownst to me, time flew, until my dress was forever crimson.

68 years passed.

And it was only after these 68 years of torture that they arrived, in search for the last and final Assistant of the Queen.


	35. A Choice

**XI**

They were only paying a visit to the Underworld, a field trip of some sort, if I were to guess. Why you would go to such a gloomy place for a field trip was a mystery.

They were a group of four- three of them cloaked, while the last one, a young girl wearing some type of school uniform, strutted at the front of the group. Her long black hair flowed out behind her, and there was something about her that doesn't seem quite worldly. Or, well, underworld-ly.

These people were definitely alive. And definitely not human.

They were talking, and laughing, occasionally pushing each other for some reasons.

They walked off towards the dark, looming palace, disappearing from sight.

I returned to my drawings: a vine here, a flower there. Leaves unfurling, petals wilting…

"That's a pretty drawing."

My hand froze. Slowly, I looked up, and found myself face to face with a girl about my age. She was alive, and there was a dark cloak draped around her shoulders. She was part of the group that had arrived without dying.

This girl had sharp Asian features, half obscured under a veil of black hair. A dark eye-patch peeked out from behind it. The rest of her hair was trapped in a high, tightly braided ponytail, tucked into the collar of the cloak. Her single eye was bright green, like the color of evil spirits, but the smile on her face was gentle.

"My name is Bara Kuroi, but you can call me Bella if you want." The girl held out a pale, long-fingered hand. I did not take it.

"Your name is Japanese," I noted.

"I happen to know that," she replied. "What's your name?"

I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth to answer when somebody cut me off.

"Bella!"

Another cloaked figure came up to Bella, walking with a prideful grace. Her hood casted shadows onto her features, so the only thing visible to me was the exquisite doll she held in her arms.

It was a detailed, delicate thing, with porcelain skin and feathery dark brown hair that barely brushed its shoulders. Her eyes were closed, dark lashes brushing her colorless cheeks. She was dressed in a dark blue Bulgarian suit, an elegant, dark blue hat perched on her head.

"What are you doing?" the newcomer scolded Bella. "We're not allowed to talk to the dead!"

Bella rolled her eyes. "Do I look like I care? These people look quite lonely, aren't they? And look at the picture she drew- it's quite beautiful!"

"It doesn't matter," the girl's words were hard. "Do you even know who she is?"

"Nope," Bella said, "but she's our age."

"There're a lot of people in this place that's our age."

"But she's the only one being tortured for eternity."

The new girl was silent. She turned to me, then drew back her hood.

Her features were foreign, with high cheekbones and a sharp nose. Her raven black hair was in a simple, casual bun, bangs covering half of her face, but her single eye was dark green, unlike Bella's, and her lips were pursed tightly.

"How old are you?" she snapped.

"Twelve," was my simple, immediate answer.

The girl's eye narrowed and she turned to Bella, beginning to speak in a foreign language.

During the quick conversation, I returned to my drawing, proceeding to add a flower to the drooping vine.

"You're strange." My hand froze at the new girl's cold tone. "Even the dead have feelings, despite not having a soul- just a spirit, and yet you… you give a feeling of darkness, of emptiness. There is nothing around you, nothing in you." She took a step forward and cocked her head to one side in a pondering look. "You have no emotions, don't you?"

"No emotions!" Bella scoffed. "Maria, you're utterly insane. There is no such thing as a person with no emotions. Even a worm has emotions!"

"And yet the evidence stands right before you," Maria retorted.

"Sits," I corrected, my voice as monotone and blank as ever, "I'm sitting."

Maria's eye twitched. Then, huffing, she spun around and stalked away. As she walked off into the distance, the doll almost seemed to open her eyes, and shoot a smile towards me.

"Well, that went quite well," Bella said drily. Then, she asked, "Is it true that you have no emotions?"

I shrugged.

"Cool," she shrugged as well. "Well, how about this: since you're an interesting person, I'll teach you how to act. You will become the best actress in the entire realm of the dead."

Before I could say anything, she continued, "Now, you ask, 'why would I need to act?' Let me tell you:" a smile grew and widened, "you will pretend to have emotions. You will become the most skilled actress, and your life will become a play. In this play, there is no script. Let the plot sweep you away; all you have to do is act like you're normal- simple as that."

_Simple._

"You will be both the puppet and the puppeteer." With a snap of her fingers, a spiral of roses sprouted from the ground to create a simple stool. She sat down and placed her elbows on the wooden desk splattered with blood between us, intertwined her fingers, and rested her head on her fingers. "You already have the puppet," one of her hands left the other, her head tilting to one side to stay balanced. She pointed at me. "You are the puppet- empty, lifeless… and now," she re-wove her fingers, "I will teach you to become the puppeteer. Are you willing to do so?"

I leveled her with my blank gaze. "There is a catch."

Her smile grew dark. "Of course there is."

"There always is."

"True," she agreed. Then sighing, she leaned back, away from the desk and gazed up towards the gray, cloudless sky of the Underworld. "The catch… is that you will have to become an Assistant. It is not a choice. Saying yes to me, would be saying yes to the Queen."

"I do not understand." I did not.

"You will," she replied. "Just say yes, and you will. Say no, and I will never bother you again."

I remained silent.

"Well?" Bella pulled her long braid from the collar of her cloak and fingered the hem of her eye patch, "What is your answer?"

_What is my answer?_

I did not have one. What would be the better deal? Stay here forever, submerged in pain, or follow a life of lies?

I lowered my eyes to the parchment before me, stained with my blood, as new as it has always been. Then, slowly, with hesitant fingers, I held up the piece of paper so it hung from my fingers between Bella and me. Even through the thick material, I could see Bella's smile.

I ripped it in half.

The two separate pieces fell to the ground, disintegrating into nothing.

Bella's smile was horrible.

"I see you've chosen 'yes'," she whispered.


	36. The Last Assistant

**XII**

"…You still don't get it, do you?"

I glared at her. Glaring was the easiest expression I've mastered: you just channel all your hate (and since I don't have much of the other emotions, I have quite a lot of hate), and put it into your gaze. Quite nice.

"Okay," Bella spoke with wild hand gestures, "when you're happy, you smile. When confused, frown. If you are ever-,"

"I know all that," I interrupted her. "My question is: how do you know when I'm supposed to be happy or… sad or whatnot?"

"Oh," she sighed. "Well… if something good happened, you should be happy, bad, sad, and so on. Though of course, you have to think about the thoughts in another person's head, and see if the situation makes them happy or sad, or angry or frustrated or anything. Then act accordingly, because this act is for others to believe, not yourself."

"I do not understand."

Bella sighed once more. "Of course you don't. This is harder than I thought I'd be."

"Of course it is," a somewhat familiar voice asserted haughtily, the British accent faint but still elegant. The two of us turned to find Maria stalking towards us, looking no different from the last time we've seen her: the bun was still there, so was the cloak, and the doll.

"You've been coming here quite often in the past week, Bella," she commented, eyebrows raised. "Having fun?"

"Maria," Bella acknowledged, her expression impassive, "Aren't you the emotion expert? 来的正好! Come, come, maybe you could help…"

"I'd rather not entangle myself with people like you," the dark-eyed girl replied coolly, "It's unhealthy."

"You've entangled yourself with me long ago," Bella fingered her eye patch.

"Still, it's unhealthy. I'm very sure that soon I will get cancer or something of the sort and die in pain."

"I'd gladly see you leave," the Asian shot back.

The two began bickering, gradually growing angrier and angrier by the second. You could almost see the fire burning in their eyes.

Just as they seemed to reach their snapping point, a long sigh interrupted them. It was followed by another; then another.

The doll resting in the crook of Maria's arm opened her eyes, a vibrant shade of emerald green and blood red. She lifted her head, cocked slightly to the side, and let out once again, another sigh.

"Do you know how painful it is for me to be between the two of you?" the doll asked, her tone dusted with annoyance. "The tension is much too high for me to bear!"

Then gracefully, she freed herself from Maria's arm, dropping to the ground, barely disturbing the sand. With quick, graceful movements she hoisted herself onto the bloodstained table. She dusted off her pants quickly, straightened up, and offered me a small smile that I was unable to return. The doll bowed, tipping her hat up in a gesture of respect.

"I'm very sorry about the two idiots behind me," she apologized sincerely, "They must have caused you quite a lot of trouble. How are you?"

"Fine," I replied. "And your apology is accepted."

"Such an impassive reply," the doll teased, "People can judge you as disrespectful with that act of yours."

"Alice, I think that's enough," Bella glared, her voice haughty.

"You're not one to talk either. Your reactions to certain events are just as considerably disrespectful." Maria's voice was just as proud.

"Well," Alice turned her gentle smile to her two companions, "no one can be perfect, can they?"

Their strange conversation continued, with me on the side as the audience. I noticed and remembered all their reactions, small changes in their posture and expression, and among that, other things. Bella's list of emotions began to show in my mind, becoming clear. I now had a face to match each word

Bella scowled as Maria and Alice teased her, while Alice chuckled good-naturedly for almost every comment made. Maria was the one who changed the most, sometimes angry, sometimes annoyed, other times mischievous and secretive.

Their words did not adjust in my brain: I was not paying attention to their words. It was just the little things…

I noticed.

No matter what their expression was, there was a hint of a smile in them, probably because they were friends and enjoyed each other's presence. Either way, no matter it be a scowl or a frown, you could notice a small trace of a smile, just a pinch of happiness.

And so I interrupted them, imitating Bella and Maria's often-haughty tone. "Can you three please stop? I'm getting extremely bored here."

The three froze, turning slowly to me.

"Crap." Bella's voice quite astonished.

I frowned. "I'm dead. I can't crap. I don't need to."

That set them off in a bout of laughter.

"Listen," Maria managed to choke out, "it's been a long time since you've been alive, and a lot have changed. You'll see when you come outside."

"You'll see, you'll see," Alice repeated.

"I will see," I agreed, "But before that, I need to know something."

"What?" the three visitors asked simultaneously.

"I need to know how to smile."

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

Smiling… is hard. It's very hard. It has to be one of the most difficult things I've ever attempted in my life… or death.

My cheek muscles (I mean my spiritual ones), having not worked for over half a century, has lost the memory of how to smile. From Bella and Maria's barely suppressed laughter, I could tell that I was making ridiculous faces. Alice, sweet Alice, merely smiled and decided wisely not to comment.

After a long time of arranging and rearranging my facial muscles, Bella suddenly gave a shout.

"Stop!"

I froze, in the middle of an attempt to form a smile.

Maria's eye was wide. "You did it," she breathed. "Oh my God, you did it!"

I was still frozen there, unable to move. _I did it._ I was _smiling_.

I felt the smile creep up my face, growing wider, and it felt so natural, so comfortable.

_ "I did it."_

Then, the smile dropped, and I resumed my blank expression. "My cheek muscles hurt."

"Well…" Bella and Maria shared a look, chuckling slightly. "You just need practice, that's all," Maria informed me.

I just smiled, despite my aching cheeks. This was proving much more fruitful than saying 'no'.

**βοηθοί** **της** **βασίλισσας**

Days afterwards, the others continued to come and visit.

On the fourth day, a new character entered the scene: a young boy with brown hair and similarly colored eyes speckled with green. He was a nervous, terrified thing, filled with stutters and flinches.

His name was Kiko Kurobara, though Maria called him Kirk. He didn't seem to like it.

Kiko was an interesting person, a dramatic model for fear, nervousness, and cautiousness. His first reaction when seeing me was a wild flinch.

Later, as the group of four was explaining to me about the current world outside: what with television with colors, mobile phones, and computers (I mean, who name themselves after a fruit?), I learnt with a mask of horror that Kiko was, in fact, the most powerful one amongst them. His power was earth, and that was his codename. He did not put his name to shame.

According to Alice, Kiko was an incarnate of the Earth. He bleeds dirt, eats air, and could survive purely on water.

He was the ultimate monster.

Though it was quite hard to believe from his personality, I had no doubts- I was unable to have any, after all, containing no curiosity.

Then, after a little over a week, _she_ came.

The legendary Queen.

She was a girl around our age, twelve. Her features were Asian, with slightly wavy long black hair and warm brown eyes.

"Of all the places I expected you guys to be here, this was at the bottom of the list. I didn't know you guys liked gloomy places." That was the first sentence she said. She did not sound like a queen, just a normal girl in a not-very-normal place.

All her Assistants bowed low in respect. A murmured 'Your majesty' was on their lips.

I just sat there, behind the blood-soaked table, just like every day since many, many years ago.

It might've been the fact that I was the only one that did not bow, but either way, she noticed me quite quickly.

"Hello!" she called cheerfully. Then an expression of surprise froze onto her face. Slowly, she turned to Bella. "Did you just decide to make her my Assistant?"

"Look into her memories," replied the bright-eyed girl, "she is more than worthy to be one of us."

The Queen stared at me for a moment, before sighing and turning back to her Assistants. "But seriously, without my permission?"

"It was meant to be a surprise."

She sighed again. "Oh well… I guess it's a pleasant one…"

From nowhere, she plucked a charm out of the air and tossed it to me. I caught it with one hand.

"Here," she waved dismissively as she made to leave. Her hand passed through my head, and I narrowed my eyes at her. I was quite sure that that was an act of disrespect. "I'll see you around," she called over her shoulder towards me. A cold smile crept up her pretty features, _"Death Shadow."_

And then the pain hit me.

I doubled over, eyes wide, gasping in pain and clenching my teeth as my simple being seemed to be ripped apart into a thousand tiny pieces. Black tendrils of darkness began to lick and invade the sides of my visions, dotting it with black. I could vaguely hear alarmed shouts from the Assistants. My body felt as if it was both burning and freezing, being ripped apart and being sewn together. My nonexistent bones seemed to be melting, my flesh shriveling…

The pain began to lessen, ebbing away slowly, leaving me aching all over.

I was on the ground, leaning against that simple stool I had sat on for so many years.

The Assistants were around me, staring at me with wide eyes.

"You…" stuttered Bella, "You are…"

I looked down to my trembling hands, and instead of the gray-tinted, dry, transparent skin of the people of the dead, I saw smoothness, milky white, decorated with silvery scars that wounded up my fingers, over my palms, and all around my body. I took a deep breath, and instead of the air rushing through me, it settled into me- my lungs. I stood wobbly, supported not because I was weightless, but because I had bones and flesh. My vision was not tinged with yellow or gray, as it had been when I was dead; it was clear.

I was alive.

Pure shock, that was what I felt. It was an emotion I didn't know was still available. It must have buried itself deep into my soul, only emerging when completely necessary.

I was _alive_.

It was at that moment did I feel the great power of the Queen. A superior being. _My_ Queen.

Alice was the first to get over her shock, and she bowed low, smiling a cat-like smile. "Welcome into the ranks."

Bella grinned, albeit a little shakily. "Welcome to the stage of life and lies."

"Seems like you're the fifth Assistant now," Maria breathed. "That was… traumatizing."

Kiko nodded eagerly in agreement.

From the ground, Bella plucked out a black cloak, identical to all of theirs, except this was mine. She threw it around my shoulders. "There you go."

"Now all you're missing is a name made by Maria," Alice spoke amiably.

Bella blinked. "Speaking of names… we never got yours."

The others blinked in surprise as well. "True."

I smiled slightly, lifting my hair from the pinning collar of the cloak. "My name is…"

I hesitated for a moment, then opened my mouth and allowed the name I haven't used, haven't even spoken, to pass through my lips again.

"My name is Kagei Nariko."


	37. Finale

**Finale**

Dearest Readers,

Did you believe that we lived happily ever after? If you did, you must've lived a happy life. After all, with our luck, 'happily ever after' is nonexistent. Of course, we wish that could happen, but sadly, that was not the case. Let us peer into the past, and the future, just to clear some questions you may have. Not necessarily all will be answered, but there should be a few. If none were answered… well, that's just our luck.

First of all, information about the Queen: she was born in the year 2000, but because of many reasons, she is currently only 13. That is all we will reveal about her.

About Bella, do not be confused. She is both Bella and Bara. I just prefer Bella. I _am _British, after all, so 'Bara' just feels kind of weird on my tongue. Her life was relatively okay, despite spending so much time in prison. But since the stupid emperor basically forgot about her, she wasn't bothered too much.

Now, me. In my opinion, I was quite happy. Everybody in the Heller manor was quite nice, and please don't forgot Mrs. Mildred and her orphanage. Last time I checked, Mari was coping quite well- she _is _my sister, therefore should be smart. However, in the future… we'll get there soon.

Alice had quite a peaceful life, don't you think (other than all the killing and whatnot)? The Rozen maidens were quite welcoming hosts, though let us not forget about Souseiseki's tragedy and future pain.

Kiko, as you've noticed, had the shortest story. It wasn't on purpose. The thing was, every time we tried to ask him some questions, he'd burst into tears, so from the few things I've managed to gather, I weaved my own, very inaccurate story. I will try better if I ever decide to rewrite this story.

Then Nicole, or well, Nariko. The nameless child, the cursed killer, the pain carrier, the best actress and the most beautiful mask. Though it was not mentioned often, she had an extremely painful life. According to her, 'Every life I took injected another drop of poison into my veins. The pain flows through me, buries me underneath it, but as an actress, I pretend not to feel it.' She never regained her emotions- they've fluttered out of her reach like dancing butterflies, but she was the one with the most smiles, the most expressions, the most words, but the most secrets. Let us not dwell on her for too long, in case the poison spreads to us as well.

Shall we enter the future then? It's very simple: a lot of crap happened.

Okay, I'll summarize it a little.

It's 2016, is it? Well, currently, we are resting. 2012 and 2013 had been especially horrible, filled with insanity, screams, tears, unwilling lies, and finally, death. Nicole, believing that her debt was the largest, sacrificed herself to heal the Queen's schizophrenia. 2015, on Nicole's birthday- well, the day after her birthday, she was revived, along with Queen, and everything's happy again. Sadly, you don't age when you're dead, and the Assistants, having our life sources connected to the Queen, we stopped aging as well. Imagine being 13 for _almost two years_.

Anyways, now we get to 2017, and our little peace was shattered by a certain b***h that apparently, _we forgot to kill_. Talk about stupid mistakes. Luckily, during the Crimson incident, we made some new friends: Charlotte Benoit, a sweet, little strawberry-lover who happens to be an extremely powerful telepath; Jenny Williams and her arrogant boyfriend Johan. Then, there's somebody you might know: Anastasia Jaden, a powerful ally, along with her cold boyfriend Vladimir Andreyev.

Let's fast-forward to 2019. This time it was a boy. The problem began after the Crimson incident in 2017, when Nicole, with her pretty, doll-like features, were proposed to by a man whose name I shall not mention. The persistent man followed and pestered her even after she refused, and somehow, that led to another battle. The man gathered an army (so dramatic, he is) to try and steal Nicole from the Queen, but he failed. He will be sitting in prison, sobbing his heart out by the end of 2019.

2020 is the year we all look forward to. It is in this year, will Anastasia finally reach 21, not _too_ early to marry. Yes, I said marry. Look forward to a wedding coming up in 4 years!

Now I sound like a commercializing salesperson. How wonderfully awful (Oh, an oxymoron!).

Anyways, there is still one more thing I have to mention: Bella and Nicole, soon after Nicole becoming an Assistant, were no longer the best of friends. After all, even though Nicole is an empty shell, Bella was very much emotional, and after the fifth Assistant joined our ranks, a new feeling arose- jealousy.

Nicole, being the emotionless puppet she was, rose to gain the Queen's fondness within weeks for her obedient, quiet attitude. Bella, being the first Assistant, was obviously not so happy. From then on, the two have been fighting. It's mostly one-sided though, since Nicole only reflected Bella's attitude, not really knowing the reason they fought.

Speaking of Nicole, you would be surprised to hear that she found true love- an emotion she was supposedly incapable of. Her unfortunate lover was Caleb Pluto. Remember him? Yeah, dark, creepy guy, cousin of Alexander Jovan and Austin Hali. They worked in the Heller manor.

Of all the times they had to fall in love, it was now. The man who had proposed to Nicole was searching for her, and when he found out that she had fallen in love with a man who was not him, he wasn't exactly happy.

As people say, love makes you blind, and true, it did. Nicole forgot the dangers she was in at the moment, and one night, the Heller manor was burned to the ground.

No one survived. No one except Nicole.

And with that sorry note, let us end this letter, shall we? It was a pleasure meeting you all, thank you for listening to my rant, and have a good day, or night. That was the best we could wish for you before we almost destroy the world once more.

Sincerely,

Maria Rozen

Along with 黒井 薔薇 (Kuroi Bara), 蒼石 (Souseki), 黒原 キコ (Kurobara Kiko), and 影井 ナリコ (Kagei Nariko)

Special Thanks to:

Mrs. Mildred, who had a kind heart beneath all those layers of fat;

Mr. and Mrs. Heller, who took me in when I was most desperate;

Elodia Hunt, a huntress who would not have hurt a single fly;

Favian Deacon, whose mischievous smile never fails to cheer me up;

Caleb Pluto, who somehow survived living with Nicole for a month- and died holding her, allowing her to be happy for the first time;

And everyone else in the Heller manor.

Also,

The Rozen Maidens, who made Alice human despite her not being one at all;

Vena Jaeger, who was the kindest killer a person could ever stumble across;

And all of the Phantom's other friends.

In the future, thank you,

Anastasia Jaden, who was both helpful and kind, who deserves none of the pain she had to experience and every drop of happiness in the future;

Vladimir Andreyev, who Nicole hated but I decided to put you in anyway because you're Anastasia's fiancé;

And everyone else in the GIS.

Of course, we won't forget you all, the readers, who had no complaints no matter how horrible these chapters were.

And Ana, thank you especially, for sticking up with me till the end, and were so nice to be filled all with praises. Thank you for helping me not give up, and now that this story is over, it is all because you helped me. _(Sorry if I sound a little sappy. My head's kind of dizzy.)_

お世話に なりました！

**~The End~**


End file.
